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The Bank of Russia has released 2024 statistics showing that the current account surplus of the balance of payments of Russia for the year amounted to US$62.3 billion. That is US$12.8 billion, or 26.0% more than in 2023 (US$49.4 billion). The Central Bank had previously estimated the current account surplus for last year at US$53.8 billion, meaning its new estimate is US$8.5 billion higher.
According to the updated estimates, Russia’s foreign trade surplus increased by US$11.3 billion, or 9.3%, to US$133.0 billion in 2024 from US$121.7 billion in 2023. The new estimate of the foreign trade surplus is about US$10.4 billion higher.
Russia’s 2024 exports increased to US$433.1 billion from US$417.2 billion, with imports increasing to US$300.1 billion from US$294.5 billion. Compared to 2023, exports in 2024 increased by 2.0% from US$424.7 billion, while imports decreased by 1.0% from US$303.1 billion. Exports and Imports would both have increased by more should it not be for Western sanctions, meaning Russia’s overall performance has been artificially reduced.
According to the latest baseline scenario of the Central Bank’s 2025 forecast, by the end of this year, assuming an annual average price of Russian oil at US$65 per barrel, the current account surplus is expected to be US$48 billion, with a positive balance of foreign trade in goods at US$117 billion.
To compare, by the end of 2024, China’s current account surplus amounted to US$423.9 billion, according to official data published on Friday (March 28) by the State Administration of Currency Control of the People’s Republic of China. This means that China’s total foreign trade is about 3.5 times larger than Russia’s. China is the world’s largest foreign trader.
In terms of the top 20 global economies, by the end of 2024, in PPP terms, China was the world’s largest economy, followed by the US and India, with Russia in fourth place having overtaken Japan and Germany.
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