OREANDA-NEWS  The number of pensioners in Russia has sharply decreased. In the first half of 2023, their number decreased by 404.2 thousand people, with reference to the data of the Social Fund, the Vedomosti newspaper reports.

In six months, the number of pensioners in Russia has fallen from 41.78 to 41.38 million people — this is the minimum figure for the entire duration of the pension reform. Such changes are associated with the transition period: in 2023, 2025 and 2027, only those who are entitled to an early retirement for long service and living in the Far North, officials, artists and doctors, will be able to go on vacation," explained the deputy chairman of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (FNPR) David Krishtal.

According to Yevgeny Nadorshin, chief economist of PF Capital, the consequences of COVID-19 also affected the decrease in the number of pensioners. The status of a pandemic was removed from the coronavirus only in May 2023, and the elderly suffered the disease the hardest.