Economic Development Ministry raises forecast for Russia's foreign trade surplus in 2025 to $106.9 bln, $123 bln in 2026

MOSCOW. Sept 24 (Interfax) - The Economic Development Ministry has raised the forecast for exports from Russia in 2025 to $412.9 billion from $410.6 billion in the forecast's April version, while the forecast for imports into Russia has been lowered to $306.0 billion from $323.8 billion, a ministry representative told journalists.

The ministry has submitted to the government a draft of the main parameters of the socio-economic development forecast for 2025-2028; it is being considered at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the representative said.

As reported, goods exports from Russia totaled $433.1 billion in 2024 while imports into Russia amounted to $299.7 billion.

The goods export forecast for 2026 has been lowered to $431.5 billion (compared to $455.8 billion in the April version), to $462.2 billion for 2027 (from $490.3 billion) and to $505.5 billion for 2028 (from $525.1 billion).

The goods import forecast for 2026 has been reduced to $308.5 billion (from $348.2 billion in the April version), to $326.9 billion from $365.1 billion for 2027 and to $341.6 billion from $379.8 billion for 2028.

The ministry has therefore raised the trade balance forecast for 2025 to $106.9 billion from $86.8 billion, to $123.0 billion from $107.6 billion for 2026, to $135.4 billion from $125.2 billion for 2027 and to $164.0 billion from $145.3 billion for 2028.

The current account balance, according to the ministry's forecast, will be $37.8 billion in 2025 (compared to $10.9 billion in the April version), $47.8 billion in 2026 ($27.2 billion), $51.5 billion in 2027 ($39.2 billion) and $70.3 billion in 2028 ($52.9 billion).