Russian Exports Growth Points in the First Half of 2020 – Non-Commodity Exports

Nadezhda P. Volovik – Head of Foreign Trade Department of the Gaidar Institute; 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.

Olga I. Izryadnova – Head of Structural Policy Department of the Gaidar Institute; Leading Researcher of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Candidate of Economic Sciences (Moscow, Russia). Е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Practically all countries implement stringent lockdown measures to fight the spread of Covid-19, which resulted in a plunge in trade volumes. According to WTO data released on 23 September, the volume of the global commerce in Q2 2020 decreased by 14.3% q-o-q with seasonal fluctuations.

Russian exports in H1 2020 contracted against the same period of 2019 by 23%. This was mainly due to a drop in prices and export volumes of energy resources. That said, in the wake of pandemic and decline in domestic demand, Russian companies managed to expand the geography and assortment of export sales of non-resource and non-energy products such as foodstuffs, textiles, and gold.

The article was written on the basis of the RANEPA state assignment research programme.

Key words: global trade, Russian export, non-resource based and non-energy export.