Russia
Cashless Payment to Dominate Russian Digital Economy
Population
Russia had an estimated population of 145,934,462 as of the middle of 2020, according to UN data. Based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest UN data, Russia had a population of 145,975,002 in 2021, with 73.7% living in urban areas, mainly Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk. The median age of the population was 39.6 years.
E-commerce
The average annual revenue per paying user was $781 in 2020, according to the PPRO EECIS Report. Most cross-border e-commerce purchases by Russians are of products from China, the United States and Germany.
Payment preferences
About 39% of Russians prefer to pay by card, followed by e-wallets, bank transfers, cash and other payment methods. For cashless payments, the biggest player was Mastercard (42%), followed by Visa, local schemes and other services, according to 2020 PPRO EECIS.
Economy
According to IMF data, Russia had a gross domestic product of $1.7 trillion in 2019, which declined to $1.46 trillion in 2020 due to the pandemic. As the economy continues to recover, the GDP is expected to expand to about $1.58 trillion in 2021.
Internet & mobile phone trends
According to Statista, 96% of the population aged 25 to 34 years had internet access in 2020, while only 0.5 percent of those aged 55 years and above went online regularly. According to Datareportal, Russia had 124 million internet users in January 2021, with an internet penetration rate of 85%. Meanwhile, smartphone penetration stood at 64% as of the end of 2020, according to the PPRO EECIS Report.
Banking
According to data compiled by PPRO EECIS, 76% of Russians had bank accounts in 2020, with 20% of them credit card holders.