Russia Current Account Surplus Jumps in Q2

Russia recorded a current account surplus of USD 21.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026, widening sharply from USD 2.2 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. This marked the largest surplus since the first quarter of 2024, driven mainly by a stronger goods surplus, which rose to USD 38.3 billion from USD 23.6 billion, as exports jumped to USD 125.7 billion from USD 98.7 billion, outpacing the increase in imports to USD 87.4 billion from USD 75.1 billion. The stronger export performance reflected higher prices and increased demand for Russian goods, as the Middle East conflict disrupted regional energy supplies and pushed up global energy prices. Meanwhile, the services deficit was broadly unchanged at USD 12.5 billion from USD 12.6 billion, while the deficit in primary and secondary income narrowed substantially to USD 4.5 billion from USD 8.9 billion.

Russia posted a current account surplus of $12.2 billion in the first quarter of 2026, narrowing from the $18.4 billion surplus in the corresponding period of the previous year. It was the softest surplus since 2016, mostly due to a sharp reduction in net exports. The goods account surplus narrowed to $25.3 billion from $30.7 billion, as exports were slightly higher and imports jumped by 10% to $73 billion. The deterioration in Russia's industry and troubles in sourcing capital goods due to sanctions from the West increased the economy's dependence on imports from nonwestern countries. Meanwhile, the services account gap widened to $8.7 billion from $7.6 billion. Lastly, the gap on the primary and secondary income accounts narrowed marginally to $4.4 billion from $4.7 billion.

Russia posted a current account surplus of $9.2 billion in the final quarter of 2025, narrowing sharply from the 13.8 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. It was the lowest current account surplus for the period since the fourth quarter of 2020, when the pandemic crisis triggered plunges in the value of commodities that Russia exports. The surplus of goods narrowed to $28.1 billion from $31.6 billion in the previous year, pressured by slowing demand for energy from China, which has been the main costumer for heavyweight commodity exports for Russia since Western sanctions from 2022. In turn, the deficit for services widened to $13.5 billion from $9.9 billion. On the other hand the primary and secondary account gap aggregates narrowed to $5.4 billion from $9.9 billion. For the full year, Russia's current account surplus was at $41.4 billion, narrowing from $62.6 billion in 2024 and totalling estimates of 2% of the Russian GDP.