Russian De-Dollarisation Has Increased To 79.8%; Trade With The West Declines To 15% Of The 2024 Total

The policy of de-dollarizing the Russian economy has been boosted over the past three years, mainly as an obvious reaction to US dollar sanctions being placed upon the country. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said at the Federation Council that Russia has effectively completed a transition to settlements in national currencies: by the end of 2024, they accounted for almost 80% of all Russia’s foreign trade transactions. He stated that “In total, in 2024, the share of our trade carried out in national currencies amounted to 79.8%. In 2020 it was only 25%.”

Overchuk stated that in global trade “Our main trading partner is China, with more than 95% of payments made in either the Chinese RMB Yuan or Russian Rouble. The share of payments in national currencies with the EAEU countries (Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan) it is 93%, and with India it is 90%.”

Of Russia’s trade with the EAEU, as mentioned 93% is conducted in national currencies, with the Rouble making up 75% of those.

Russia is the only country globally to have weaned itself off from Western trade and currencies and is now almost fully dependent on its trade with the Global South and Emerging Markets.

Russia’s total 2024 foreign trade was US$717 billion, with the European Union contributing US$71 billion and the United States just US$3.5 billion. This indicates that Western trade with Russia now only accounts for about 15% of all Russian imports and exports.