ECONOMY

General Information

The main currency of the Russian Federation is RUB – ruble.

Among the key priorities of the country's socio-economic development are adapting the economy to external conditions, stimulating import substitution, developing transport and digital infrastructure, as well as supporting non-commodity exports.

Russia is one of the world's leading industrial and space powers. According to World Bank data, Russia's nominal GDP in 2024 amounted to 2173,84 bil. US dollars, and its share in the world economy reached 2,05%.

The country's production organization is based on natural resource potential, accounting for over 20% of world reserves. Many types of mineral raw materials are extracted: oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, apatites, potassium salts, phosphorites, diamonds, etc.

The Russian Federation ranks first in the world in gas reserves (32% of world reserves, 30% of world production); second place in oil production (348,8 mil. tonnes and 10% share of world production); third place in coal reserves (22 coal basins, 115 deposits, including in European Russia – about 15,6%; in Siberia – 66,8%; in the Far East – 12,9%; in the Urals – 4,3%).

For economic planning and development purposes, the Russian Federation has 12 economic regions:

East Siberian: active development of coal, brown coal, as well as iron and copper-nickel ore deposits. Largest city - Krasnoyarsk.
Volga-Vyatka: rich forest and water resources. Largest city - Nizhny Novgorod.
Far Eastern: active development of coal, oil, gas, tin, gold, and diamond deposits. Largest city - Vladivostok.
West Siberian: coal, natural gas, oil, iron, and polymetallic ore deposits are being developed in the region. Largest city - Novosibirsk.
Kaliningrad: amber, brown coal, phosphorites, and rock salt are extracted in the region. Largest city - Kaliningrad.
Volga: the main resources are oil and gas, active grazing of sheep and cattle occurs. Largest agricultural region where sunflower, rice, mustard, late vegetables, and sugar beet are grown. Largest city - Kazan.
Northern: active extraction of oil, gas, coal, iron, copper-nickel, aluminum ores, and apatites. Largest city - Murmansk.
Northwestern: gray-forest, swampy soil. Has extensive water resources. Peat, combustible shale, bauxite, phosphorites, limestone, glass sand, and granite are extracted. Largest city - Saint Petersburg.
North Caucasian: coal, oil and gas, ores of non-ferrous and rare metals, mining-chemical raw materials, raw materials for building materials production are extracted in the region, and various agricultural crops are grown. Largest city - Rostov-on-Don.
Ural: active development of oil, iron, non-ferrous ore, potassium salt, coal, brown coal, natural gas, and nickel deposits in the region. Largest city - Yekaterinburg.
Central Black Earth: distinguished by fertile soil - rich chernozems. Largest city - Voronezh.
Central: manufacturing is the most developed. Has an advantageous position - at the intersection of land and water routes. Largest city - Moscow.

The structure of the economy is distributed as follows: approximately 62,3% of GDP is formed by the service sector, 32,4% – by industry, and 4,7% – by agriculture (according to 2017 data, which are the latest officially published in open sources).

The main sources of foreign currency earnings remain exports of mineral products (oil, gas, coal). The role of exports of metals, chemical products, and food is also growing.

Special attention is paid to infrastructure development, including expansion of the Northern Sea Route, construction of high-speed railways, and implementation of national projects in digitalization and healthcare.

Share of Economic Sectors

The leading sectors of the Russian economy are industry (more than 32% of GDP) and the service sector (about 62% of GDP). Agriculture accounts for almost 5% of the country's GDP.

Russian industry includes competitive sectors developing on their own financial base (oil, gas, extraction and processing of precious stones and metals); sectors with high scientific potential (aircraft construction, rocket and space production, nuclear industry, production of weapons and military equipment, electrical engineering, pulp and paper industry, etc.); sectors with technical lag (automotive industry, transport, road and agricultural machinery, light and food industry).

The service sector in the Russian Federation includes services provided by enterprises, organizations, and individuals: consumer services (education, healthcare, social assistance, tourism, culture, etc.); services servicing the interaction of economic agents and public administration services, ensuring security and law enforcement.

Russian agriculture covers crop production (including grain farming – production of wheat and rye; beet farming – production of sugar beet; production of oilseed crops, sunflower; potato farming, vegetable farming, horticulture, and fodder production); animal husbandry (cattle breeding, pig farming, sheep breeding, poultry farming, horse breeding, fish farming, fur farming, reindeer herding, camel breeding, beekeeping).

Foreign trade in the first half of 2025 reached a volume of 327,1 bil. US dollars (exports – 195,5 bil. dollars, imports – 131,6 bil. dollars). The basis of exports consists of mineral products, metals, chemical products, and food. Imports consist mainly of machinery, equipment, and vehicles.

Export and Import

Exports form a significant part of Russia's economic activity. In the first half of 2025, its volume amounted to 197 bil. US dollars. Key export items are:

Mineral products (oil, gas, coal) – 63% of total exports;
Metals and metal products – 10%;
Chemical industry products and rubber – 7,4%;
Food products and agricultural raw materials – 5%.

Main export partners are: China (12%), Germany (9%), Netherlands (8,4%), Italy (5,8%), Belarus (4,7%), Turkey (4,4%), and Japan (4,1%).

The largest share of imports consists of machinery, equipment, and vehicles. In the first half of 2025, their share in the import structure was 47,8%. Key import items are:

Machinery and equipment (45%);
Chemical products (19%);
Agricultural products (14,5%).

Main import partners are countries of Asia (87,6 bil. dollars), Europe (34,1 bil. dollars), the American continent (7,6 bil. dollars), and Africa (2,4 bil. dollars).

Labor Force

The economically active population of Russia as of 2021 was 73,4 mil. people (62,3% of the population over 15 years old). The unemployment rate remains at a low level and in 2022 was 3,94%.

Average monthly wages before tax deductions as of the second quarter of 2023 were 73,534 rubles (approximately 905 US dollars at the exchange rate for that period).

Distribution of employment by economic sectors (as of 2021):

Service sector – 67%;
Industrial sector – 27%;
Agriculture – 6%.

Russia's labor market is characterized by:

Low official unemployment rate;
High share of employment in the service sector;
Growing demand for specialists in IT, digitalization, and industrial automation.