The key facts

  • Average old-age insurance pension: from 45,450 rubles in Chukotka to 21,068 rubles in Kabardino-Balkaria
  • The Finance Ministry forecasts an average pension of 29,904 rubles by the end of 2027

The gap between regions exceeds a factor of two

The average size of the old-age insurance pension across Russian regions at the beginning of this year ranges from 21,000 to 45,000 rubles. RIA Novosti published these figures, as reported by Gazeta.Ru with reference to regional documents. The leaders were the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (45,450 rubles), the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (41,850 rubles) and Magadan Oblast (39,788 rubles).

The top ten and the regions with the lowest payments

The top 10 by pension size, besides the three leaders, includes Kamchatka (39,621 rubles), the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (39,140 rubles), the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (38,578 rubles), Yakutia (36,375 rubles), Murmansk Oblast (35,659 rubles), Sakhalin Oblast (35,360 rubles) and Tyumen Oblast (34,926 rubles). The list shows that the highest payments are concentrated in the northern and Arctic territories. The lowest average pensions were recorded in Kabardino-Balkaria (21,068 rubles), Dagestan (21,233 rubles), Kalmykia (22,980 rubles), Karachay-Cherkessia (22,995 rubles) and Ingushetia (23,267 rubles).

The Finance Ministry's forecast

On October 29, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov statedthat the average old-age pension by the end of 2027 will amount to 29,904 rubles. This figure is close to the current national average, which lies between the regional minimums and maximums in the ranking above. Russian media have also previously published materials on how to save up for a 'wealthy' pension. The publication provides no details on the methodology used for the forecast or on how it compares with inflation.