On March 25, 2025, Elena Mikhalovskaya, anchor of the program “Our News,” spoke about the major social and economic progress Belarus had supposedly made during the last five years with Alexander Lukashenko in the presidential seat.
"Since 2021, average salaries have nearly doubled, with wages in the public sector up by 70 percent. The minimum wage has been climbing too, while unemployment continues to fall. Support of senior citizens is also a major priority. Pensions have seen a big bump: at the end of 2020, the average nonworking retiree received 511 rubles — by February of this year, that number had jumped to 932. Over the past four years, benefits for families with children under 3 have nearly doubled, and the number of large families is also growing — now totaling 123,000. Officials credit this trend to increased government support. For example, in 2025, the amount of family capital exceeds 33,000 rubles — a 50 percent increase from five years ago."
At the end of 2020, the average salary in Belarus was just under 1,500 rubles, according to Belstat. By the end of 2024, it had risen to around 2,700 rubles. On paper, the nominal wage increased 1.8 times. But higher paychecks don’t automatically mean people are living better. The numbers leave out key factors that shape real financial health — like inflation, the exchange rates, and the widening gap between income and expenses.
WTF crunched the official data and found that over the past five years, prices for goods and services in Belarus have jumped nearly 34 percent. Once you factor in rising prices, the picture changes: during Alexander Lukashenko’s latest term, average salaries didn’t double — they rose by about a third. Child benefits saw a similar bump, increasing by roughly the same margin. Pensions went up by 20%, and the minimum wage grew by 16%.
Converted to US dollars, incomes over the past five years rose between 12% and 28%. Family capital barely budged — up only 4%.