Comparative assessment of changes in living standards in the country and CFD during the pandemic

The socio-economic situation of the latter is characterized by negative trends, which are most clearly reflected in the level and quality of life of the country’s population. At the same time, it is also worth noting the territorial differentiation of the standard of living by districts and regions of the country, which only intensified during the economic crisis. And if regions with a higher level of socio-economic development managed to adapt to changing conditions and maintain an optimal balance between the level of wages and the cost of living, then in more depressed regions, the situation of the past years has worsened and the crisis phenomena have intensified. In the course of the work, a comparative assessment of the standard of living in the whole country and in the Central Federal District was carried out based on an analysis of the main socio-economic indicators in the period 2019-2021, the trends formed under the influence of the pandemic and their causes were identified. It has been established that in the last 3 years the domestic economy has been characterized by a continuing state of crisis, which has a negative impact on the socio-economic situation of the population. Speaking about the change in real incomes of the population, it is worth noting that the pre-pandemic year is characterized by growth dynamics at the level of 2-3%, and in 2020 there was a decrease within 1.5% amid rising inflation. In 2021, the dynamics to increase real incomes resumed at the level of 3.4% and 5.6% for the Russian Federation and the Central Federal District, respectively. In the consumer market over the past 3 years, prices have been growing more dynamically than the real incomes of the population, which suggests a decrease in the purchasing power of wages. So, in the Russian Federation, real incomes in 2021 increased by 3.4%, while consumer prices - by 8.4%. At the same time, the cost of the minimum conditional set of consumer goods and services in the country increased by almost 30% over 3 years.