Russia’s Foreign Trade in 2020: Preliminary Results

Alexander Yu. Knobel – Head of Foreign Trade Department of the Gaidar Institute; Director of Center for Foreign Trade Department of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration; Director of the Institute for International Economics and Finance, Russian Foreign Trade Academy, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Alexander S. Firanchuk – Senior Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Exports of energy and commodities fell by 36,5% (45% of 2013 levels) in the first nine months of 2020 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Non-commodity non-energy exports (NEEs) rose 1.8% due to a six-fold increase in gold sales. Excluding gold exports, the NNE decreased by 8,0%. The decline in exports of energy products, metals, chemicals and timber was due to a deterioration in the price situation. Exports of high-tech goods decreased by 17% due to a decrease in physical export volumes. Imports for January-September 2020 decreased by 6,9%.

Key words: foreign trade, export, import, pandemic.