Eurasian Development Bank: The Eurasian Economic Union Had Record GDP Growth In 2024

Russia, and its neighbouring states within the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) have undergone an economic boom during 2024, according to a report by the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB).

The EAEU includes Russia as well as Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, & Kyrgyzstan. It fills a geographic space between Eastern Europe and Western China. Their collective GDP growth exceeded 4% this year, according to the EDB.

In its latest macroeconomic forecast for 2025-2027, released last week, the EDB stated that the cumulative GDP of the EAEU shows growth of 4.2% in 2024, outpacing the global average of 3.2%. The data also included Tajikistan, which is not an EAEU member.

Despite an increasingly complex and challenging global environment, members of the EAEU have demonstrated resilience, the EDB said. The current year also marked the best performance for Eurasian nations since 2012, apart from a post-Covid rebound.

The region’s nominal GDP – excluding Russia – is expected to surpass US$500 billion in 2024, according to EDB Chief Economist Evgeny Vinokurov. Central Asia’s population, which has grown by more than 3% over the past two years to reach 80 million, presents a “demographic window of opportunity” that could fuel economic growth for the next 15 to 20 years, he said. That means that the Central Asian region now has a GDP larger than Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand, or Vietnam, and about double that of Portugal.

“The Central Asian economy has become a major player. It is attractive for investment, a dynamic sales market, and strategically significant for transport and transit potential,” said Vinokurov, and comes at a time when the global economy is facing a slowdown due to lower productivity, weakening demand, and declining population, the EDB noted.

The Russian and Belarusian economies will continue to grow by 2.4% and 2.6% respectively in 2025, it said. The financial institution also expects GDP in Armenia and Kazakhstan to grow by 5.5%, in Kyrgyzstan by 8.7%, and in Tajikistan by 8.4%, driven by industrial activity and investments.

Russia has stepped up efforts to expand trade and other facets of economic cooperation with allied nations as it faces unprecedented Western sanctions. The country has also been actively switching trade from dollars and euro to national currencies with the EAEU members and other partners in the region.