Despite sanctions, the EU remains one of Russia's top three trading partners
Data from the German Institute for Economic Research (IW) shows that in 2024, China, India, and the EU were Russia's largest trading partners, although the trade structure with the EU has undergone significant changes.
Despite Western sanctions, according to data from the IW cited by the German newspaper Bild, Russia's exports grew by 18% in 2024, reaching $330 billion.
According to IW calculations, even with restrictions in place, the EU remains Russia's third-largest trading partner: total trade between the two reached 67.5 billion euros.
At the same time, the trade structure has changed significantly: Germany's imports from Russia fell by 92%, but the bilateral trade volume still reached 9.5 billion dollars. France and the Netherlands had trade volumes of 6 billion dollars with Russia. In contrast, trade with Hungary increased - imports rose by 31% to 6.2 billion dollars. Trade with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Spain, Belgium, and Italy saw a significant decline compared to 2021.
According to IW's assessment, China is Russia's largest trading partner: it is also the largest importer of Russian goods (mainly oil, natural gas, and coal), with an import value of 130 billion dollars. The total trade volume between the two countries in 2024 was approximately 244.8 billion dollars.
The institute's statistics show that India became the second-largest buyer of Russian goods (especially oil).
The media also highlighted trade between Russia and Israel: analysts said that this trade volume increased significantly in 2024, including oil imported by the latter from Russia.
The report also noted that since 2022, countries such as Armenia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Brazil have significantly increased their imports from Russia.
According to data provided by the Russian Federal Customs Service at the request of the Russian newspaper "Business Advisory Daily," from January to October 2024, Russia's main trading partners were China (accounting for 33.8% of Russia's total trade), India (8.8%), and Turkey (8.3%). Other countries in the top ten include Belarus, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Germany, Armenia, Italy, and Uzbekistan. In just these ten months, Russia's total trade (import + export) reached 584 billion dollars.
In the "pre-sanctions" year of 2021, Russia's top five trading partners were: China (18.3%), Germany (7.4%), the Netherlands (5%), Belarus (5%), and the United States (4.2%). Turkey was sixth at that time, and India did not make the top ten.
Russia considers the sanctions imposed by Western countries to be illegal and demands their cancellation. President Vladimir Putin has emphasized that the restrictive measures have caused losses to EU countries themselves.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847001613906956/
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