MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. The decline of consumer demand peaked in Q2 2022 in Russia, First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov said on Monday, adding that a recovery is expected to follow.

"A very important conclusion that we made after thorough analysis with experts, including the Economic Development Ministry, experts at the Bank of Russia, the Finance Ministry, is that it is likely we have already passed the peak of consumer demand decline and entered the growth trajectory. <…> In other words, we passed the worst in the second quarter, and a gradual improvement is expected to follow," he said.

The decline in consumer demand in Russia will total 4-4.2% by the end of this year, whereas consumer activity may be expected to grow by 2.5-3% in 2023, Belousov added.

"We see the shock related to the growth of prices in March and in April subsiding gradually. This concerns more food and less non-food, though in both sectors the demand is starting to revive gradually," he noted.