Russia Economy - 2021

Economic overview

Russia has undergone significant changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, moving from a centrally planned economy towards a more market-based system. Both economic growth and reform have stalled in recent years, however, and Russia remains a predominantly statist economy with a high concentration of wealth in officials' hands. Economic reforms in the 1990s privatized most industry, with notable exceptions in the energy, transportation, banking, and defense-related sectors. The protection of property rights is still weak, and the state continues to interfere in the free operation of the private sector.

Russia is one of the world's leading producers of oil and natural gas, and is also a top exporter of metals such as steel and primary aluminum. Russia is heavily dependent on the movement of world commodity prices as reliance on commodity exports makes it vulnerable to boom and bust cycles that follow the volatile swings in global prices. The economy, which had averaged 7% growth during the 1998-2008 period as oil prices rose rapidly, has seen diminishing growth rates since then due to the exhaustion of Russia’s commodity-based growth model.

A combination of falling oil prices, international sanctions, and structural limitations pushed Russia into a deep recession in 2015, with GDP falling by close to 2.8%. The downturn continued through 2016, with GDP contracting another 0.2%, but was reversed in 2017 as world demand picked up. Government support for import substitution has increased recently in an effort to diversify the economy away from extractive industries.

Real GDP growth rate

1.34% (2019 est.)

2.54% (2018 est.)

1.83% (2017 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4.4% (2019 est.)

2.8% (2018 est.)

3.7% (2017 est.)

Credit ratings

Fitch rating: BBB (2019)

Moody's rating: Baa3 (2019)

Standard & Poors rating: BBB- (2018)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$3,968,180,000,000 (2019 est.)

$3,915,637,000,000 (2018 est.)

$3,818,780,000,000 (2017 est.)

note: data are in 2010 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$1,702,361,000,000 (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$27,044 (2019 est.)

$26,668 (2018 est.)

$26,006 (2017 est.)

note: data are in 2010 dollars

Gross national saving

27.6% of GDP (2019 est.)

30% of GDP (2018 est.)

25.7% of GDP (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 4.7% (2017 est.)

industry: 32.4% (2017 est.)

services: 62.3% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 52.4% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 18% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 21.6% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 2.3% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 26.2% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -20.6% (2017 est.)

Ease of Doing Business Index scores

Overall score: 78.2 (2020)

Starting a Business score: 93.1 (2020)

Trading score: 71.8 (2020)

Enforcement score: 72.2 (2020)

Agricultural products

wheat, sugar beet, milk, potatoes, barley, sunflower seed, maize, poultry, oats, soybeans

Industries

complete range of mining and extractive industries producing coal, oil, gas, chemicals, and metals; all forms of machine building from rolling mills to high-performance aircraft and space vehicles; defense industries (including radar, missile production, advanced electronic components), shipbuilding; road and rail transportation equipment; communications equipment; agricultural machinery, tractors, and construction equipment; electric power generating and transmitting equipment; medical and scientific instruments; consumer durables, textiles, foodstuffs, handicrafts

Industrial production growth rate

-1% (2017 est.)

Labor force

69.923 million (2020 est.)

Labor force - by occupation

agriculture: 9.4%

industry: 27.6%

services: 63% (2016 est.)

Unemployment rate

4.6% (2019 est.)

4.8% (2018 est.)

Population below poverty line

12.6% (2018 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

37.5 (2018 est.)

41.9 (2013)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 2.3%

highest 10%: 32.2% (2012 est.)

Budget

revenues: 258.6 billion (2017 est.)

expenditures: 281.4 billion (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

16.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-1.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

15.5% of GDP (2017 est.)

16.1% of GDP (2016 est.)

note: data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment, debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions

Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

$65.311 billion (2019 est.)

$115.68 billion (2018 est.)

Exports

$551.128 billion (2019 est.)

$564.314 billion (2018 est.)

$534.657 billion (2017 est.)

Exports - partners

China 14%, Netherlands 10%, Belarus 5%, Germany 5% (2019)

Exports - commodities

crude petroleum, refined petroleum, natural gas, coal, wheat, iron (2019)

Imports

$366.919 billion (2019 est.)

$355.022 billion (2018 est.)

$345.926 billion (2017 est.)

Imports - partners

China 20%, Germany 13%, Belarus 6% (2019)

Imports - commodities

cars and vehicle parts, packaged medicines, broadcasting equipment, aircraft, computers (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$432.7 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$377.7 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Debt - external

$479.844 billion (2019 est.)

$484.355 billion (2018 est.)

Exchange rates

Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar -

73.7569 (2020 est.)

63.66754 (2019 est.)

66.2 (2018 est.)

60.938 (2014 est.)

38.378 (2013 est.)