Statistics can tell you everything you ever wanted to know. Take, for example, the statistics in this RIA Novosti report:
- Rich country: Russia has a GDP of $433 billion, making it the 16th richest country in the world
- Poor country: Russia has a per capita income of $2,610, making it the 97th richest country in the world. But it was the 99th richest last year, so things are looking up.
- Not so poor country: Consumer spending in Russia exceeded official incomes by a massive 72% due to the shadow economy, presumably almost doubling the real wealth of the average Russian.
So, the Russian economy is doing, ummmm, ok?
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There are two reasons why the World Bank numbers seem so low. One is the way GDP is measured. If the Bank builds on reported personal income, no wonder they come up with an understatement, although 72% looks an absurdly high level for the shadow economy. Problem two is nominal GDP expressed in US dollars is not a good indicator of the living standard. For that, they normally use PPP-adjusted GPD, based on local prices — that’d be USD8,900 per capita for Russia in 2003, according to the CIA factbook.
Finally, all GDP indicators say nothing about income distribution, which is extremely important for developing countries.
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