Russian Depositors Set to Earn a Record 9.5 Trillion Rubles in Interest Income in 2025

In 2025, Russian depositors are set to receive more than 9.5 trillion rubles in interest income from savings products, according to an estimate by Alexey Okhorzin, senior vice president and head of the retail products department at VTB (VTB). He presented the figure at the 16th VTB Investment Forum "Russia Calling!". The bank expects the income of depositors in 2025 to be roughly one and a half times higher than in the same period last year, and VTB itself plans to pay out more than 1.6 trillion rubles in interest income to households.

"Savings products still retain high yields and provide not only protection from inflation but also a stable passive income. This year Russians will receive 9.5 trillion rubles in interest income, and every fifth or sixth ruble credited on deposits and savings accounts will be paid out by VTB," Okhorzin said.

How different banks see the year

Other banks offered their own, diverging forecasts. PSB (PSB) projects a more modest figure — 8.3 trillion rubles, compared with 5.2 trillion rubles in 2024, a rise of roughly 60%. Dmitry Gritskevich, head of banking and financial markets analysis at PSB, told Vedomosti that the average yield on household funds across the banking market will reach 13.5–14% this year, against 10.4% in 2024, taking into account funds held in current and savings accounts. Absolut Bank (Absolut Bank), by contrast, issued a higher forecast of 10.1 trillion rubles. Bank DOM.RF (Bank DOM.RF) said it would credit depositors with almost twice as much interest income as a year earlier, without giving an absolute figure.

According to Bank of Russia data, over the first half of 2025 Russian banks paid out 4.3 trillion rubles in interest expenses on household funds. As of 1 November, household funds in deposits and current accounts reached 63.5 trillion rubles, up 10.1% since the start of the year, of which more than 44 trillion rubles are held in deposits.

Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said in a September interview that, by the end of 2025, Russians' deposit income could amount to 8–9 trillion rubles. He noted that people have grown used to earning income on their money thanks to high deposit rates and, despite the gradual reduction of the key rate, will continue to look rationally for ways to earn, including through investments in real estate and the stock market. The key rate currently stands at 16.5%, and the next Bank of Russia rate meeting is scheduled for 19 December. According to the central bank, the average maximum deposit rate in the top-10 banks in the second decade of November was 15.49%. More detail on these figures was reported by Ekspert.

Key points of the story:

• Russian depositors are expected to earn more than 9.5 trillion rubles in interest income in 2025, about one and a half times more than a year earlier;
• VTB plans to pay out more than 1.6 trillion rubles, PSB forecasts 8.3 trillion rubles, and Absolut Bank 10.1 trillion rubles;
• Household funds in deposits and current accounts reached 63.5 trillion rubles as of 1 November, up 10.1% since the start of the year;
• Tax receipts from deposit income are expected to hit a record 305 billion rubles, nearly three times the 2024 figure.

Alongside the growth in interest income, tax receipts to the budget are rising as well. The Finance Ministry said on 2 December that receipts from the tax on deposit income will reach a record 305 billion rubles this year, almost three times the 2024 level, a dynamic the ministry attributed to the significant rise in the key rate and the growth in household deposits. This year, deposit income above 210 thousand rubles is subject to tax. The trend confirms that, even as the key rate eases, household savings remain one of the main pillars of the banking market in Russia.