Foreign Trade in January-July 2021: Growth of Non-Energy Exports

Alexander Yu. Knobel – Head of Foreign Trade Department of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy; 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.

In the first seven months of 2021, the Russian foreign trade turnover significantly exceeded the pre-covid level, increasing by 12.2% compared to January-July 2019. Exports of energy and raw materials in value terms did not return to the pre-crisis level (a decrease of 9.8% compared to January-July 2019), while non-primary non-energy exports (NEE) in January-July 2021 increased significantly relative to the pre-crisis level (by 40.8%). In July, the NEE hit a record monthly figure of $26.2 billion due to an increase in the export of metals in the last month before the introduction of export duties. Imports of goods also overcame the downward trend caused by the pandemic and demonstrated a significant increase (by 20.6%) relative to the 2019 level.

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

Key words: foreign trade, export, import, non-primary non-fuel exports, pandemic.

JEL-codes: F10, F14.