Russia’s total trade turnover saw a significant year-over-year growth of 17.5 percent to nearly $688 billion as of the end of 2018, according to data published by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development.
The report showed that exports from Russia totaled some $450 billion, marking a surge of 25.6 percent, while imports saw a modest growth of 4.7 percent to some $238 billion. Share of exports increased to 65.4 percent against 61.1 percent in 2017 while the share of imports declined from 38.9 percent to 34.6 percent.
Russia’s top five key trading partners of 2018 are Italy ($27 billion), Belarus ($34 billion), Netherlands ($47.2 billion), Germany ($59.6 billion), RT reports, adding that China tops this list with $108.3 billion, fixing a record growth of 24.5 percent.
Exports of Russian goods to China reportedly increased by 44 percent and amounted to $56 billion. The growth occurred mostly in sales of crude oil, refined copper and petrochemicals, according to the Economy Ministry.
