The pension has been growing more slowly than the real inflation rate in recent years. As of June 1, 2026, there are 40.45 million pensioners in Russia, which is every fourth resident of the country. Of these, 8.4 million continue to work, 32 million do not. The average pension allocated in September 2026 is 25,469 rubles. Real growth in pensions is slowing down. In September 2025, the real pension was 3.5% higher than a year earlier, in December 2025. by 5.7%. In September 2026, only by 1.8%. Pensions are still growing faster than prices (if we take the controversial statistics from Rostat), but the reserve is rapidly diminishing. The ratio between the average pension and the average salary in January 2025 was 26.0%, in August 2026 it was 24.7% and on average for 2025 it was only 23.0%. That is, the pension is less than a quarter of the average salary. In 2019, Russia ratified ILO Convention No. 102, where the index is 40% of losses. Meanwhile, the gap between the pension and the standard of living of the workers is increasing: the salary in 2026 actually increased by 5.8%, the pension by 2.4%. And yes, retirees have their own inflation. The official inflation in September was 6.4%. But a senior's basket consists of food, drugs, medicine and housing and community services. And these articles are becoming more and more expensive.