Exports from Russia in 2020 fell by 20.7 percent (minus $ 88.1 billion) and amounted to $ 338.2 billion – a record drop over the past five years. This was discussed in the FinExpertiza study, which was submitted to Lenta.ru.
In 2015, the volume of exports from Russia amounted to 345.9 billion dollars (minus 31.1 percent), in 2016 it amounted to 287.7 billion (minus 16.8 percent). In 2017, exports were at $ 359.8 billion (plus 25.1 percent), in 2018 – 452.1 billion (plus 25.6 percent), in 2019 – 426.3 billion (minus 5 , 7 percent). Exports of fuel and energy commodities such as oil, gas and coal fell especially strongly in 2020 (minus 36.4 percent or minus $ 167 billion), the study said. The share of such goods in total exports from the country also dropped record-breaking: if in 2019 it was at 62.1 percent, then in 2020 it showed a drop to 49.6 percent – at least since 2003.
The corona crisis also seriously affected the export of chemical products (minus 11.4 percent, to $ 23.9 billion), machinery, equipment and vehicles (minus 9.5 percent, to $ 25.1 billion), metals and products of them (minus 7 percent to $ 34.9 billion). At the same time, exports of textiles, textile products and timber (plus 8.6 percent), food and agricultural raw materials (plus 19.6 percent), precious metals and precious stones (by 99 percent) increased sharply. For the last two categories, export revenue peaked for the entire available statistics period since 2003, and amounted to $ 29.6 billion and $ 30.4 billion, respectively.
Russian exports in 2020 fell less than pessimistic forecasts predicted, as energy prices began to recover in the second half of the year. The reduction in oil and gas exports partially compensated for the growth in the supply of food products and precious metals abroad, primarily gold, explained in FinExpertiza. They warned that the role of raw materials in the future will decline, and for Russia, in the absence of significant structural changes, the situation is fraught with risks of years of stagnation.