Eurasian Economic Union Should Double Share Of Global GDP By 2035: Lukashenko

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has achieved success in the main performance indicators but fallen short of about 20 crucial targets in its 2025 development strategy; over the next decade, the union should, at a minimum, double its share in the global GDP, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said. He was speaking at the 2025 Eurasian Economic Commission Forum annual meetings currently being held in Minsk. Russian President Putin is also attending.

The EAEU includes Belarus, as well as Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. Should the EAEU double its GDP over the next decade, this would imply a steady 5% per annum (compounded) growth rate and an eventual gross GDP of US$5.2 trillion. The 2024 EAEU growth rate was 4%.

Lukashenko said, “The EAEU has already stepped over the ten-year line since its creation. Our bloc defied its skeptics by proving capable of finding mutually acceptable decisions and work compromises. The EAEU is not just functioning; it has also been successful in the main parameters. Over the past ten years, trade between its member states has more than doubled, and external trade has increased by 37%. The union’s combined GDP rose by nearly 18%; industrial production, by 30%; agricultural output, by 25%; cargo traffic, by 10%; and investments, by more than 40%. The level of unemployment has halved and is now at 2.8%.”

Lukashenko added that the EAEU accounts for one-fifth of the world’s population and is the largest bloc by area, containing a quarter of all proven types of fossil fuels, he said. The EAEU is the world’s number one for oil production and ranks second for gas and mineral production, third for wheat, potato, and agricultural production, and for the length of our railroads.

Lukashenko also said, “But on no account must we rest on our laurels. For all this, our union’s GDP is still a mere 4% of the world’s. What does it mean? The potential of our integrated union is not being used in full. And over the next ten years we must, at a minimum, double this figure by lending a new impetus to our integration.”

Although Lukashenko has set a high growth target for the coming ten years, there are significant upcoming developments that imply his reasoning is sound. Iran has just started in May 2025 the free trade agreement with the EAEU, while Mongolia and the UAE are about to. Also upcoming are anticipated FTA agreements with India and Indonesia with others also in the pipeline.