Economy of Russia

Economy of Russia: An Overview

Russia with a GDP of over USD 2.1 trillion (on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis)(Source: IMF) is the world’s seventh largest economy. Russia has a per capita income is around USD 14,705 on a PPP basis (Source: IMF). Russia was earlier a communist state but has now transformed into a capitalist economy. It is also called an emerging market economy.

Russia has a total area of 17 million sq km with a coastline of more than 37,000 km. Its arable land constitutes around 7% of its total land. Russia is the largest country in the world by land area.

Agriculture constitutes over 4%, manufacturing around 40 % and services 55 % of the economy. About 10 percent of people in Russia are employed in the agriculture sector.

Russia's Ural Mountains are a key mineral base. It also has huge reserves of oil in Siberia and in the Far East. Russia also has rich reserves of coal, gas and timber. Russia does a lot of Oil and gas exports which bring in a lot of cash for the country. Russia’s fishing industry ranks fourth in the world. Russia is heavily reliant on natural resource exports for its economy.

Russia has a population of more than 140 million. Its population growth rate is negative, which means its population is shrinking. Russia has a life expectancy rate of around 66 years. Its literacy rates stand at around 99.4% (Source: CIA Fact book). About 15.8% of the Russia’s population is below the poverty line (Source: CIA Fact book).

The biggest export partners are Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. Russia is not a member of WTO as yet.

Russia’s stock exchange, the Russian Trading System is based out of Moscow

The currency of Russia is the Russian ruble (RUB).

Russia’s total electricity production is around 1 trillion kWh.

Russia has over 30 million Internet users.