| Economy | Russia |
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Economy - overview:
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Russia ended 2008 with GDP growth of 6.0%, following 10 straight years of growth averaging 7% annually since the financial crisis of 1998. Over the last six years, fixed capital investment growth and personal income growth have averaged above 10%, but both grew at slower rates in 2008. Growth in 2008 was driven largely by non-tradable services and domestic manufacturing, rather than exports. During the past decade, poverty and unemployment declined steadily and the middle class continued to expand. Russia also improved its international financial position, running balance of payments surpluses since 2000. Foreign exchange reserves grew from $12 billion in 1999 to almost $600 billion by end July 2008, which include $200 billion in two sovereign wealth funds: a reserve fund to support budgetary expenditures in case of a fall in the price of oil and a national welfare fund to help fund pensions and infrastructure development. Total foreign debt is approximately one-third of GDP. The state component of foreign debt has declined, but commercial short-term debt to foreigners has risen strongly. These positive trends began to reverse in the second half of 2008. Investor concerns over the Russia-Georgia conflict, corporate governance issues, and the global credit crunch in September caused the Russian stock market to fall by roughly 70%, primarily due to margin calls that were difficult for many Russian companies to meet. The global crisis also affected Russia's banking system, which faced liquidity problems. Moscow responded quickly in early October 2008, initiating a rescue plan of over $200 billion that was designed to increase liquidity in the financial sector, to help firms refinance foreign debt, and to support the stock market. The government also unveiled a $20 billion tax cut plan and other safety nets for society and industry. Meanwhile, a 70% drop in the price of oil since mid-July further exacerbated imbalances in external accounts and the federal budget. In mid-November, mini-devaluations of the currency by the Central Bank caused increased capital flight and froze domestic credit markets, resulting in growing unemployment, wage arrears, and a severe drop in production. Foreign exchange reserves dropped to around $435 billion by end 2008, as the Central Bank defended an overvalued ruble. In the first year of his term, President MEDVEDEV outlined a number of economic priorities for Russia including improving infrastructure, innovation, investment, and institutions; reducing the state's role in the economy; reforming the tax system and banking sector; developing one of the biggest financial centers in the world, combating corruption, and improving the judiciary. The Russian government needs to diversify the economy further, as energy and other raw materials still dominate Russian export earnings and federal budget receipts. Russia's infrastructure requires large investments and must be replaced or modernized if the country is to achieve broad-based economic growth. Corruption, lack of trust in institutions, and more recently, exchange rate uncertainty and the global economic crisis continue to dampen domestic and foreign investor sentiment. Russia has made some progress in building the rule of law, the bedrock of a modern market economy, but much work remains on judicial reform. Moscow continues to seek accession to the WTO and has made some progress, but its timeline for entry into the organization continues to slip, and the negotiating atmosphere has soured in the wake of the Georgia and global economic crises. |
GDP (purchasing power parity):
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$2.225 trillion (2008 est.)
$2.146 trillion (2007)
$1.985 trillion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$15,800 (2008 est.)
$15,200 (2007 est.)
$14,000 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars |
GDP (official exchange rate):
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$1.757 trillion (2008 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate:
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6% (2008 est.)
8.1% (2007 est.)
7.7% (2006 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 4.1%
industry: 41.1%
services: 54.8% (2007 est.) |
Investment (gross fixed):
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24.7% of GDP (2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line:
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15.8% (November 2007) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 1.9%
highest 10%: 30.4% (September 2007) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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41.5 (September 2008) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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13.9% (2008 est.) |
Central bank discount rate:
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13% (31 December 2008) |
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
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13% (31 December 2008) |
Stock of money:
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$166.4 billion (October 2008) |
Stock of money - per capita:
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1,189 USD per capita |
Stock of quasi money:
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$343 billion (October 2008) |
Stock of quasi money - per capita:
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2,450 USD per capita |
Stock of domestic credit:
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$503.7 billion (1 October 2008) |
Stock of domestic credit - per capita:
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3,597 USD per capita |
Labor force:
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75.7 million (2008 est.) |
Labor force participation rate:
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54.06 % of population |
Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture: 10.2%
industry: 27.4%
services: 62.4% (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate:
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6.2% (2008 est.) |
Budget:
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revenues: $383.5 billion
expenditures: $273.5 billion (2008 est.) |
Budget revenues per capita:
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2,739 USD per capita |
Public debt:
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6.8% of GDP (2008 est.) |
Industries:
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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, and 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:
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1.9% (2008 est.) |
Electricity - production:
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1.016 trillion kWh (2007 est.) |
Electricity - production per capita:
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7,256 kWh per capita |
Electricity - consumption:
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1.003 trillion kWh (2006 est.) |
Electricity - consumption - per capita:
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7,163 kWh per capita |
Electricity - exports:
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18.6 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
Electricity - imports:
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6 billion kWh (2007 est.) |
Oil - production:
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9.98 million bbl/day (2007 est.) |
Oil - production per capita:
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71,265 bbl/day per capita |
Oil - consumption:
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2.699 million bbl/day (2007 est.) |
Oil - consumption - per capita:
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7.03 bbl/year per capita |
Oil - exports:
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5.17 million bbl/day (2007) |
Oil - imports:
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54,000 bbl/day (2005) |
Oil - proved reserves:
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79 billion bbl (1 January 2008 est.) |
Natural gas - production:
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654 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - production per capita:
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4,671 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - consumption:
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481 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - consumption - per capita:
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3,435 cu m per capita |
Natural gas - exports:
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173 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - imports:
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68.2 billion cu m (2007 est.) |
Natural gas - proved reserves:
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44.65 trillion cu m (1 January 2008 est.) |
Agriculture - products:
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grain, sugar beets, sunflower seed, vegetables, fruits; beef, milk |
Current account balance:
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$97.6 billion (2008 est.) |
Current account balance - per capita:
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697 USD per capita |
Exports:
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$476 billion (2008 est.) |
Exports per capita:
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3,399 USD per capita |
Exports - commodities:
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petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, and a wide variety of civilian and military manufactures |
Exports - partners:
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Netherlands 12.2%, Italy 7.8%, Germany 7.5%, Turkey 5.2%, Belarus 5%, Ukraine 4.7%, China 4.5% (2007) |
Imports:
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$302 billion f.o.b. (2008 est.) |
Imports per capita:
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2,157 USD per capita |
Imports - commodities:
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vehicles, machinery and equipment, plastics, medicines, iron and steel, consumer goods, meat, fruits and nuts, semifinished metal products |
Imports - partners:
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Germany 13.3%, China 12.2%, Ukraine 6.7%, Japan 6.4%, US 4.8%, Belarus 4.4%, South Korea 4.4%, Italy 4.3% (2007) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$435.4 billion (12 December 2008) |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold - per capita:
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3,110 USD per capita |
Debt - external:
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$527.1 billion (June 2008 est.) |
Debt - external - per capita:
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3,764 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
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$491.2 billion (2007) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home - per capita:
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3,508 USD per capita |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
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$370.2 billion (2007) |
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad - per capita:
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2,644 USD per capita |
Market value of publicly traded shares:
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$450 billion (15 December 2008 est.) |
Market value of publicly traded shares - per capita:
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3,214 USD per capita |
Economic aid - donor:
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void |
Economic aid - recipient:
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$982.7 million in FY06 from US, including $847 million in non-proliferation subsidies |
Economic aid - recipient per capita:
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8 USD per capita |
Currency (code):
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Russian ruble (RUB) |
Exchange rates:
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Russian rubles (RUB) per US dollar - 24.3 (2008 est.), 25.659 (2007), 27.19 (2006), 28.284 (2005), 28.814 (2004) |
Fiscal year:
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calendar year |
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