Savings Activity of Russians: Dynamics and Factors

Based on the data of a number of all-Russian studies of the Institute of Sociology of FCTАS RAS, the article characterizes saving behavior factors of Russians and the dynamics of its change in 2003-2023. Some classical concepts explaining the savings behavior of the population are tested in relation to Russian conditions. It is demonstrated that their conclusions are only partially justified in the Russian society. It is shown, in particular, that representatives of mass strata of the population reacted to successive external shocks of different nature in recent years depending on the nature of these shocks, and not only on their severity or expected duration: to crises of purely economic nature, in accordance with the classical postulates, Russians responded by striving to maintain their usual level of consumption at the expense of savings, while in case of adding geopolitical risks and increasing uncertainty of the future, the prevalence of savings was increased. If for small savings no micro-level factors have been identified to have significant impact on their availability, then in the formation of savings that allow you to live on them for at least two months, subjective factors play a key role, in particular, readiness for long-term planning of one’s life, as well as a sense of respective economic and social success. At the same time, economic factors, though important, play a noticeably lesser role, affecting mainly amounts of savings.