LIVING STANDARDS IN THE SOVIET UNION AND THE UNITED STATES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87M01152R000200130024-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: April 9, 1985
• Content Type: MISC

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP87MO1152R000200130024-5
.5 Fle C
/- # LL
/- aI~ CAA
144
~4se- //I' ~sz
y Q
\
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
I
~ J Office of Legislative Liaison
i eiepnone: J3 1-0 111 9 Apr 85
TO: Staff Director
Committee on Foreign Relations
United States Senate /-`~~ 3
At the suggestion of the Department of
Defense, we are attaching two papers written
by CIA analysts:
1. a Secret-level research report comparing
US and USSR GNPs from 1960-83;
2. a Confidential-level article comparing
US and USSR living standards.
We trust you will find this material
interesting and useful.
3-74M 1533 P ?E IOUS
EDITIONS.
J
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP87MO1152R000200130024-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP87M01152R000200130024-5
UU14 tUt'MAL
Living Standards in the Soviet Union
and the United States
The USSR has made only a little progress toward its
oft-proclaimed goal of catching up with the United
States in standard of living. Over the last two decades,
real Soviet per capita consumption improved slightly,
relative to that in the United States, but it is still only
about one-third the US level.' Soviet living standards
remain low by Western standards and also compare
unfavorably with those in much of Eastern Europe.
Nevertheless, from the viewpoint of the Soviet con-
sumer, some improvements have occurred since the
1960s. The Soviet diet now nearly matches that in the
United States in terms of daily protein and calories,
and many households have manual washing machines
and small refrigerators. There is still a severe shortage
of housing, however, and there are problems in health
care that have contributed to rising death rates and
lower life expectancies. At best, future improvements
in living standards may mitigate some of these prob-
lems, but slower economic growth will make progress
harder to achieve, and it probably will occur at a
slower rate than Soviet consumers experienced in the
1960s.1f
Trends in Per Capita Consumption
Soviet per capita consumption has been growing more
and more slowly since the mid-1960s, and it deceler-
ated markedly in the early 1980s.1 The rate of growth
stagnated or fell in all major categories of consump-
tion, falling particularly sharply in consumer dura-
bles. In total retail sales, the estimated share of
imports of final consumer goods nearly doubled dur-
ing the 1970s, but this was not enough to offset the
growing demand for goods and services. As average
income increased, widespread gaps between the de-
mand for consumer goods and their availability be-
came more evident. The year 1982 was a particularly
' Comparisons with the United States are made by pricing each
country's goods and services in the other's currency, adjusted for
inflation. An "average" is obtained by calculating the geometric
' Growth in real per capita consumption is a good general measure
of changes in a nation's standard of living because it shows the
volume of goods and services acquired by households. It cannot
indicate the lot of a particular citizen, however, because it cannot
account for distribution disparities or regional differences that
could affect changes in individual consumption levelsF_____]
CO HIDENTIAL
bad year-per capita expenditures on food, soft goods,
and durables showed an actual decline from their
1981 levels. All major categories of per capita con-
sumption rebounded somewhat in 1983, however. F-1
Diet
Perhaps the brightest area in the comparative living
standards picture has been that of food. The Soviets
gained a little on the Americans in terms of per capita
expenditures for food, rising from about 40 percent of
the US level in 1960 to about 55 percent in 1983. F_
The quality of the Soviet food supply has also im-
proved. The daily caloric level of the Soviet diet
nearly matched that of the United States in 1981
(figure 1). Soviets still consumed more starches than
Americans did, but the gap has narrowed somewhat,
largely because more livestock products are now
available. Nonetheless, the Soviets have met their
recommended daily per capita caloric levels-more
calories than the current US recommended allow-
ances for adults.F-1
Soviet per capita protein levels nearly match US
levels. The share of protein in the Soviet food supply
has increased from one-third to one-half since the
mid- 1960s-a marked improvement, though still low
by US standards. (The share of protein from livestock
products in the US food supply is 70 percent.FI 25X1
The United States does much more food processing-
canning, freezing, and drying, as well as specialized
processing and packaging. The universal use of refrig-
eration and a flexible distribution system make fresh
foods widely available throughout the year and give
US consumers a wider choice than their Soviet coun-
terparts. The Soviet food industry is heavily oriented
toward processing food into more storable forms-
canning vegetables and making sausage, cheese, and
similar products. Freezing and packaging are at an 25X1
embryonic stage in the Soviet Union; in 1976, for
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP87M01152R000200130024-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP87MO1152R000200130024-5
A Comparison of
Soviet and US
Gross National Products,
1960-83
A Research Paper
Secret
SOV 84-10114
August 1984
Copy 510
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/06: CIA-RDP87MO1152R000200130024-5