Russia’s trade engagement with the global market has plummeted to its lowest point in over thirty years, reminiscent of the final days of the Soviet Union, as reported by The Moscow Times on February 10. This decline is based on recent data released by Rosstat.<\/p>\n
According to the statistics, Russia’s exports constituted merely 17.8% of its GDP in 2025, a decrease from 22.2% the previous year. Imports also fell from 17.8% to 15.2%. Economist Olga Belenkaya from Finam described this export share as an ‘absolute minimum’ in the context of modern Russian history.<\/p>\n
These figures represent a stark contrast to the pre-war era when exports typically accounted for 25\u201330% of GDP, and even more so to the late 1990s and early 2000s when the share exceeded 40%, as noted by The Moscow Times.<\/p>\n
The current trade levels are strikingly similar to those of the USSR’s last years, where exports were 18.2% of Soviet GDP in 1990 and 13.3% in 1991, with imports at 17.9% and 13%, according to World Bank data referenced in the report.<\/p>\n
Belenkaya attributes this decline to the intensifying Western sanctions, limited access to imports, and the Kremlin’s emphasis on import substitution, which has resulted in Russia becoming less integrated into the global economy than it was before 2022.<\/p>\n
This situation echoes recent remarks by EU sanctions envoy David O\u2019Sullivan, who noted that Western sanctions are having a ‘significant impact’ on Russia’s economy. He acknowledged that while sanctions are not a ‘silver bullet’ and can be circumvented, they are progressively undermining Russia’s economic structure.<\/p>\n
Customs data reveal that Russia’s export revenues decreased by 4% last year to $418.3 billion, marking the lowest point since the pandemic. Raw-material exports dropped by 15% to $225 billion, while non-energy exports were approximately 25% below pre-war levels at $150 billion. Imports saw a 3% decline to $278 billion.<\/p>\n
Trade with Europe, which was once Russia’s largest economic partner, has diminished to levels akin to the 1990s, with exports at $57.4 billion and imports at $72.3 billion, as reported by The Moscow Times.<\/p>\n
Despite increasing isolation, President Putin has set ambitious import-substitution goals, vowing that Russia will domestically produce everything from medicines and computers to aircraft. However, Alexandra Prokopenko, a researcher at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told the Financial Times that these targets are more akin to ‘Putin’s fantasy than a realistic plan.’<\/p>\n
Previously, it was reported that Russia’s so-called parallel imports of foreign goods fell by nearly half in 2025 as Russian authorities tightened controls on sanctions-evasion supply routes.<\/p>\n
Rosstat, the Federal State Statistics Service, is the official government agency in Russia responsible for collecting, analyzing, and publishing economic, social, demographic, and environmental statistics.<\/p>\n