Qualitative Deterioration of Russian Workforce Reducing GDP by More than Half a Percent Each Year, Abdeyeva Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 29 – The deterioration of health, education, and work habits among Russians in recent years is costing the country’s GDP “more than half a percent” every year, according to Darya Avdeyeva, a senior specialist at the Higher School of Economics Center for Development.

            Ever more Russians are ill or dying prematurely, ever more are getting less or at least lower quality educations, and ever more lack the work habits and skills of those they replace are the current features of the state of human capital in Russia, she says in a report to be released next month (ng.ru/economics/2023-05-29/1_4_8735_people.html).

            In contrast to the Russian government, Avdeyeva and her colleagues use World Bank figures to draw her conclusions. And also in contrast to the regime, she and they suggest that while trends in the state of Russian human capital have varied in the past, they are likely to deteriorate still further in the future unless radical changes are made.