Over 400 individuals in the Krasnodar region are making more than one million rubles per month, according to Rosstat statistics.
Russia Sees Surge in Highly Paid Specialists Amid Economic and Technological Transformation
Russia is experiencing a significant increase in highly paid specialists, particularly in the IT, logistics, industrial, and management sectors, according to a report by RIA Novosti in April 2025. This growth is largely attributed to the surge in demand for advanced technical skills such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, coupled with a shortage of qualified personnel.
The data, sourced from Rosstat, reveals that as of April 2025, the number of Russians earning a monthly salary of over 1 million rubles stands at 45,428, a substantial increase from 24,400 in the same period of 2023. This represents a more than doubling of the number of highly paid specialists in just two years.
Key regions contributing to this trend include Kuban, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the Moscow region. Kuban, for instance, boasts 498 residents with a monthly salary of over 1 million rubles, while St. Petersburg and the Moscow region host 3,800 and 3,300 highly paid specialists, respectively. The exact number of regions in the top five is not specified, but Tatarstan and Krasnodar Krai are also among the regions experiencing this growth.
In the IT sector, the number of AI vacancies soared by 80% between October 2022 and October 2023, reflecting the rapid growth following the launches of generative AI products by major companies. This demand has pushed salaries sharply higher, with companies often offering 1.7 to 2 times above-market wages to attract skilled personnel.
The rise in highly paid specialists is also attributed to the application of advanced hiring strategies like upskilling and further training, as well as the economic and technological transformations under external pressures, requiring highly skilled labor to maintain competitiveness. Additionally, there is an increase in salary expectations and implementation of new hiring and training practices to retain talent.
It's worth noting that not all regions have experienced this growth equally. As of April 2025, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Kalmykia have no employees earning over 1 million rubles a month.
The growth of highly paid specialists is not limited to the top five regions mentioned earlier. Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, for example, hosts 468 residents with a monthly salary of over 1 million rubles. Moreover, million-ruble salaries were first recorded in Ingushetia (1 person) and North Ossetia (8 people) in 2025.
This dynamic contributes to a growing share of highly paid specialists in these sectors in Russia's labor market as of early 2025, reflecting a broader trend of economic and technological development in the country.
- The surge in demand for advanced technical skills, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, in Russia's IT sector has led to a significant increase in the number of highly paid specialists in business and finance.
- Companies in Russia's IT sector are offering above-market wages to attract skilled personnel due to a shortage of qualified workers and the growth in AI vacancies, contributing to the increase in business professionals earning over 1 million rubles per month.
