After having relative prosperity during the second half of the 20th century until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Citizens from Russia experimented relative economic hardship during the rest of the 90s. The government led by Boris Yeltsin was not successful in the transition of the economic model from socialism to open market capitalism.
Then came Vladimir Putin at the beginning of the 21st century. Under his regime, the Russian economy experimented a sustained growth due to the rising prices of oil. Industries like production, construction, real estate, and financial services all grew.
As a consequence of the improvement of the economy, the middle class grew as well as their income. GDP per capita (the amount of money the average Russian gains over a year) sharply rose since the beginning of Putin's regime and is barely reaching $12000 in 2017.
However, the country still fails to score positively in regarding corruption levels and freedom of speech. As the government is constantly accused of suppressing political opposition.
This leads to describing the standard of living of the average Russian citizen as constantly improving in economic terms, but still lacking the guarantee of security and freedom of speech.
