The largest shares of informally employed citizens were recorded in the North Caucasus

About half of all residents in Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan (54.9%, 53.8% and 46.1% respectively) work in the informal sector, i.e. their employers do not pay taxes. These are the maximum figures among the regions of the Russian Federation.

Also, high shares of unofficially employed workers were recorded in Chechnya, North Ossetia and the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Over the past year, the highest growth rates of citizens receiving salaries in envelopes have been observed in Moscow (+313.6%) and St. Petersburg (+89%).

The total number of informally working citizens in Russia has grown to 14.2 million people. This is almost a fifth of all employed people. One of the main reasons for informal employment and entrepreneurship is very high taxes and fees.

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