BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/28
Some 15 to 30 million Russians (20–40 % of employed persons) are estimated to work in the grey economy. Rosstat estimates that 13–14 million people work solely and another 1-2 million partly in the unofficial sector. Corresponding estimates of Russia’s Presidential Academy of National Economy are 9 and 20 million. Surveys of the Academy of National Economy and VTSIOM found that in recent years about 10–15 % of workers received all of their wages under the table, while about 15–20 % has a portion of their wages paid under the table. Half of Russians said they had paid for services or work under the table.
Rosstat GDP figures include an estimate of the grey economy i.e. legal, but unrecorded, economic activity. The estimate does not include criminal activity such as trafficking in illegal drugs. In the first part of 2000s, Rosstat estimated that Russia’s grey economy accounted for 20–25 % of GDP and that in recent years that share has declined to around 15 % of GDP. Statistics Finland’s estimate for Finland is 1–2 %.