Half Million Belarusians Live Below Poverty Line

Even Belstat admits that the Belarusians are in a catastrophic situation.

In the second quarter, 5.7% of the Belarusian population lived below the poverty line. This follows from Belstat's data on the living standard measurement study. The average per capita disposable resources of these people were below the cost of living. Tut.by has looked at who finds themselves below the poverty line most often.

At the end of June, the population of Belarus was 9 million 478.2 thousand people. It turns out that slightly more than 540 thousand people were below the poverty line.

Among families, the level of poverty in January-June was 4% (in the previous quarter – 4.1%). Most often families with under-age children are among those living below the poverty line, of 8.3% of them are low-income ones (8.4% – in the previous quarter). This figure is 1.9% among families without children.

The highest level of poverty among the families in Homel and Brest regions is 5.6% and 5.5% respectively. This figure is the lowest in Minsk – 1.1%.

According to the federation of trade unions, in some regions, the average salary does not allow the population to make purchases and pay for services within the minimum consumer budget. Among them – Sharkaushchyna, Miory and Braslau regions.