World meat industry news

The country is fairly open to foreign trade, which accounts for 46% of GDP (World Bank, 2020), despite strict laws and policies. Russia became a member of the WTO in 2012, is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which have established a free trade area, and is a member of the Eurasian Customs Union. Russia and Ukraine have abolished mutual trade preferences.

The Eurasian Customs Union has signed an agreement with Vietnam and is negotiating free trade agreements with, for example, Iran, India, Egypt, Singapore and Serbia. Russia is the 16th exporter and 21st importer of goods in the world (WTO, 2020). It mainly exports hydrocarbons (more than 50% of total exports), solid fuels, wheat and meslin, iron and steel, precious metals, precious stones and wood, and mainly imports machinery, pharmaceuticals, electronics, electrical products, vehicles and plastics. After dropping sharply in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of exports and imports of goods and services rebounded in 2021. Exports increased by 3.2% compared to 2020, while imports surged by 17.3% (IMF). According to IMF forecast, exports should increase faster in 2022 (5.6%) before slowing down in 2023 (2.7%). Imports are expected to slow down in 2022 (6.8%) and even further in 2023 (1.6%).
 
Russia's main customers are China (14.6% of exports), the Netherlands (7.4%), the United Kingdom (6.9%), Germany (5.5%), Belarus (4.7%) and Turkey (4.7%). Its main suppliers are China (23.7% of imports), Germany (10.1%), the United States (5.7%), Belarus (5.4%) and Italy (4.4%). Since the conflict in Ukraine and the economic sanctions imposed by Western countries, the Kremlin has imposed an embargo on European and American agricultural products and has reconfigured its trade relations.
 
The country has recorded significant and regular trade surpluses since 1998, mainly due to the richness of its natural resources, notably hydrocarbons (crude oil and natural gas in particular). The trade surplus makes up easily for the deficit in services and income. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and falling oil prices, the surplus shrank in 2020. According to the latest WTO data, Russia exported USD 332.2 billion worth of goods in 2020, and imported USD 240.4 billion worth, posting a surplus of USD 91.8 billion (compared to USD 165.3 billion in 2019). The country exported 46.7 billion USD of services and imported 63.4 billion USD. According to preliminary data from the Russian central bank, the trade surplus increased to USD 162.8 billion during the period from January to November 2021 (compared to USD 82.9 billion during the same period in 2020), thanks to higher oil prices. Despite the efforts made since the imposition of sanctions, the substitution of domestic products for imports has hardly been successful, except in the food industry.

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data