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Russia – Important Facts

Russia is a country located in northern Eurasia bordering the Arctic Ocean between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean. Neighboring countries include Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, and Ukraine. The geography is diverse and includes vast forests and tundra in Siberia and mountains along the southern borders. The government system is a federation; the chief of state is the president, and the head of government is the premier. Russia has transitioned from a centrally-planned economy to a more market-based economy in which many state-controlled firms have been privatized and sectors of the economy are liberalized. Russia is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

The economy, which had averaged 7% growth during 1998-2008 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 the GDP falling by close to 4%. Most economists expect this downturn will continue through 2016. Government support for import substitution has increased recently in an effort to diversify the economy away from extractive industries. Although the Russian Ministry of Economic Development is forecasting a modest growth of 0.7% for 2016 as a whole, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) is more pessimistic and expects the recovery to begin later in the year and a decline of 0.5% to 1.0% for the full year. Russia is heavily dependent on the movement of world commodity prices and the CBR estimates that if oil prices remain below $40 per barrel beyond 2016, the resulting shock would cause GDP to fall by up to 5%.

Important Details

  • Country ISO3 : RUS
  • Country Code : 643
  • Income Group : Upper middle income
  • Lending Category : IBRD
  • Region : Europe & Central Asia
  • Currency Unit: Russian ruble
  • WTO Member : Yes
  • Trade organisations : WTO, CIS, APEC, EURASEC, G-20 and others
  • world rank : 153
  • Regional Ranking : 42nd in Europe