The Foreign Trade in 2020 : Overcoming the Downturn

Though global prices of energy resources did not return completely to the pre-crisis levels, the Russian foreign trade turnover recovered more or less from the pandemicdriven downturn. The recovery of trade in services is slower because of travelling restrictions which are still in force. In 2020, exports of energy and primary commodities fell by 35.2% on the back of a decrease in global prices of energy resources. Non-oil and gas exports increased by 4.1% owing to three-fold growth in sales of gold. Without taking into account exports of gold, non-oil and gas exports decreased by 4.3% with a depreciation of export prices (-4.1%), particularly, of metals, chemical products and wood. Exports of high-tech goods decreased by 14% due to the contraction of export volumes. In 2020, the importation of goods declined by 5.1%. The pandemic brought about a four-fold drop in the travelling services sector’s turnover leading to a dramatic decrease in exports (-28%) and imports (-36%) of services