How 2022 has changed Russians

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Cut costs

Compared to July-September 2021, what Russians save on has not changed. However, in general, they began to save more.

• More than 70% of Russians are less likely to buy new clothes, according to a NielsenIQ study based on the results of the third quarter of 2022. For example, over the same period last year, only 66% of citizens reduced spending.
• Last year, 63% of Russians saved on entertainment, and in 2022 - already 66%.
• In 2021, 56% of respondents tried not to spend money on food in public places, and this year - 65%.

At the same time, Russians prefer to save on the purchase of alcohol last. According to NielsenIQ, in the third quarter of 2022, 36% of respondents began to buy less alcohol.

However, there are also goods for which the Russians have even increased their spending. These are antidepressants: in the first nine months of 2022, spending on them increased by 70% compared to the same period in 2021.

Lost savings

More than 80% of Russians surveyed said in a survey by AlfaStrakhovanie that they had lost their savings since February 2022.

According to 8% of respondents, they completely lost their accumulated finances, 21% admitted to losing almost all their savings, and 52% lost a small part of them. Only 19% of respondents lost nothing.

They began to doubt the need to start a war. True, there is a nuance

According to a closed poll by the Federal Security Service ( such polls are commissioned by the Kremlin for internal use ), published by Meduza, in November 25% of Russians were in favor of continuing the war. At the same time, in July 2022, 57% of citizens were for the war.

In November, according to the same closed poll, 55% of those polled supported the peace talks with Ukraine, although in July 2022 this number was only 32%. As sociologist Grigory Yudin told Meduza, these poll results may be related to the announced mobilization. According to him, the Russians faced “the destruction of everyday life and a sense of danger”, and also “because of the defeats at the front and the lack of a convincing theory of how exactly Russia will win”, they lost faith in victory.

At the same time, Farida Rustamova and Maxim Tovkaylo also refer to the results of closed polls carried out specifically for the Kremlin. And these data are somewhat different : according to them, the number of those who want to continue the war, on the contrary, has grown - from 61% in April to 67% in November. But there are fewer respondents who believe that the war should not have been started - from 71% in April to 60% in November. This paradox is explained by the fact that the Russians simply do not want the war to end in their defeat.

Less willing to change

As follows from the results of survey the Levada Center , the number of people who want change has decreased in Russia. In September 2022, 47% of those polled said the country needed "decisive, full-blown change." In July 2019, when a similar survey was conducted, more than half of the respondents, 59%, were in favor of change.

14% of respondents this year answered that the most desired change for them is an increase in living standards. 11% were in favor of a change of power, and 10% said they wanted Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and start peace talks.

Watch more youtube

According to research company Mediascope, Russians are watching more videos on YouTube. Since the beginning of the year, the average watch time per day was approximately 84 minutes, and in August it increased to 88 minutes.

According to TelecomDaily CEO Denis Kuskov, this is due to "escapism in society and news fatigue." The number of Russians who visit YouTube at least once a day has also increased over the year: in August 2022 there were 48 million people, and in August 2021 - 41.3.

Everyone still approves of Putin's activities

Support for Vladimir Putin among Russians is consistently high , but the level of trust in his activities has fallen slightly after the mobilization announced in Russia. In September, Putin's activities were approved by 77%, although back in June, July and August 2022, 83% of Russians supported him.

According to a Levada Center poll for October 2022, already 79% of Russians surveyed said they generally approve of the activities of President Vladimir Putin. Only 18% of Russians do not approve of it, another 3% did not answer the question at all.