What Were Russia's Top 10 Economic Successes in 2025

By Rhod Mackenzie

The year of 2025 proved to be a challenging one for the Russian economy. The imposition of even more  sanctions by the West, a further decline in oil prices, the widening of the budget deficit, and the continued high cost of borrowing all contributed to the year's challenging economic climate.
Rhod Mackenzie looks how this did not impede Russia's economic resilience plus analyses the main economic successes that Russia achieved., and under were the underlying circumstances?
The Ruble the Russian nationak currency was the star performer in 2025. The ruble demonstrated notable strength, appreciating by a substantial 27%. The dollar exchange rate experienced a significant decline,with a 25% decrease in value against the ruble. Tthe dollar peaked at 103.5 rubles in January and by December it his a new post Sanctions period low of  76 rubles. The ruble has demonstrated the strongest performance aaganst all the major currencies, both this year and historically. This represents the strongest performance in the modern history of the Russia financial market. A similar situation was evident with the euro, which dropped  24% January from its peak to its low point. The yuan has experienced a significant devaluation, losing nearly 20% of its value.
These are some of the unexpected consequences of the de-dollarisation of Russia's real economy. This was unexpected, given that at the beginning of 2025, it was widely anticipated that the dollar would reach 100. So the strengthening of the ruble was not anticipated by most analysts.
The strengthening of the ruble can be attributed to the Bank of Russia's stringent economic policy.
Secondly, there has been an unusual change in the payment structure for Russia's export-import transactions: the ruble's share of exports increased from 44% to 60% over the year.
Thirdly, the ongoing foreign trade surplus is attributable to reduced import volumes, the growth of which is constrained by sanctions and import substitution policies.
Plus the  restrictions on capital outflow and a reduction in corporate external debt mean that less foreign currency is required to cover these outflows.
Second place is awarded to the results of the fight against inflation. Even at the beginning of the year, the Central Bank's interest rate policy—which the regulator raised to 21% a record level  in modern Russia—which seemed too strict to many. However, by the end of the year, their  effectiveness had been demonstrated. as by December , inflation is expected to be even lower than 6%, at around 5.7-5.8%.

Achieving this was no easy task, as the inflation rate was 9.5% by the end of 2024 and up at 10.3% in March 2025.
Following the Central Bank's decision to raise the key rate, inflation has decreased. Furthermore, following a record-breaking 21% rate, the regulator has since initiated a number of cuts n in the latter half of the year. As we enter the new year, it is important to note that the key rate is now lower at 16%.
"The Central Bank's measures, initially regarded as excessively stringent, are now considered as having taken the correct action in light of the prevailing circumstances. With inflation falling below 6%, the Central Bank has managed to avoided a hard landing on the economy, while interest rates remain quite high," says Vladimir Yevstifeyev, head of the analytical department at Zenit Bank.

The third success is economic growth. Despite the recent imposition of new sanctions and the Central Bank's stringent policies, the Russian economy continues to demonstrate actual growth. Furthermore, it is expanding at a rate that is three times faster than the European economy, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. Over the past three years, Russia's GDP has increased by 9.7%, while the Eurozone's has grown by only 3.1%.
This year, Russia's GDP growth rate decreased to 1.8%, a development that President Vladimir Putin has characterised as a deliberate measure aimed at safeguarding the stability of the economy. This indicates that macroeconomic stability, given certain conditions, was prioritised. In terms of economic interests, it would be preferable for the Bank of Russia to maintain control in order to prevent a loss of financial stability due to accelerating inflation. In any case, the latter scenario would have resulted in a slowdown in GDP, which would have been more severe and uncontrollable.

The fourth success is the achievement of record growth in the amount of non-oil and gas revenues. For decades, the West has referred to Russia as a gas station masquerading as country , implying its total fiancial dependence on oil and gas rvenues.
However, in 2025, the reduction in the amount of oil and gas export revenues (due to falling prices) was offset by rising revenues from the non-oil and gas sector. It is important to note that the Russian budget is now only around  30% reliant on energy revenues. The Russian economy is no longer simply dependent on raw materials.

According to the Federal Tax Service, oil and gas revenues fell by 2 trillion rubles ( about $30 billion) over the first ten months of the year, while non-oil and gas revenues increased by 3 trillion ($41 billion)
So for the first time, oil revenues now account for only 30% of the federal budget. This indicates that revenues from sources other than oil and gas contributed to the budget t, as they offset losses from oil and gas. In November and December, the oil market experienced a downturn, with the price of Urals crude oil falling to $40 per barrel and the discount to Brent reaching $22-27 per barrel.
Now the support from the non-oil sector is very valuable and timely.
Non-oil and gas revenues to the budget system increased by 15.1%, particularly from engineering,manufacturing, finance, construction, trade, and IT.
It is anticipated that this trend will persist not only in the forthcoming year, but also for many years to come. According to the Ministry of Finance's forecast for 2042, in the baseline scenario, Russian budget revenues are expected to grow, although not due to oil and gas revenues, but rather due to non-oil and gas revenues.
The fifth success is the growth of Russian financial reserves. Russia's gold acquistion strategy has yielded substantial financial returns. In 2025, investors of all types were buying up bullion, fearing economic problems and rising US debt. The price of gold increased by 71%, reaching $4,500 per ounce. Russia was the first to benefit from this situation, as it had already begun selling dollars from its reserves and buying gold back in 2014, when an ounce was trading at between $1,100 and $1,500.

According to data from the Central Bank, as of early December, Russia's gold reserves experienced an increase of $112 billion over the previous twelve-month period. At the start of December last year, the Bank of Russia held $198.1 billion worth of gold bars in its vaults, and a year later, that figure had risen to $310.7 billion. It is important to note that the physical volume of gold held in the Central Bank's vaults has remained consistent over the past three years, maintaining a steady inventory of approximately 75 million ounces. Therefore, the increase in wealth can be attributed precisely to the rise in the price of the precious metal. Many countries are now following Russia's lead in this strategy.

The sixth success is grain.
Agriculture, having reached a high level, continues to maintain its leadingp position. Grain is Russia's primary source of agricultural income. "This year, Russian farmers have once again demonstrated their resilience in the face of challenging weather conditions. Several regions experienced recurrent frosts, drought, heavy rains and early snow.
Notwithstanding, it is anticipated that this year's grain harvest will reach 137 million tons net, constituting one of the most substantial harvests in recent history. Had it not been for the challenging weather conditions, the harvest would have been several million tons higher," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev stated in late December.
The 2025 harvest was not achieved by the traditional grain-producing regions of the south of the country, but by completely different regions. Consequently, a shortfall of several million tons of wheat was experienced in the south of the country, while in Central Russia and Siberia, the harvest plan was exceeded by tens of millions of tons.
Due to a successful harvest, Russia is poised to export 53-55 million tons of grain in the 2025/26 agricultural year, with 43 million tons of that being wheat.
In 2016, Russia achieved a significant milestone by becoming the world's largest wheat exporter, with a total of 25.3 million tons. Russia overtook the long-standing leader, the United States, and has since maintained its position at the top, consistently achieving exports of over 30 million tons. Record harvests of legumes, fruits and berries, rapeseed, and soybeans are also expected, Patrushev noted.

Russia has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the number one exporter of sunflower oil for the first time. Following the 2024/25 season, Russia surpassed Ukraine, which had been the historical world leader in sunflower oil exports, for the first time. We sold 5.2 million tons of product abroad, setting a new record. This represents a significant increase of half a million tons over that of our competitor. Ukraine is now the second-largest producer, with 4.7 million tons. Argentina is third in this regard, with an export figure of 1.3 million tons according to the Federal Center for Agroexport.

In recent years, Russia has been deliberately increasing sunflower oil exports and expanding into new markets. Among the new buyers is India, a long-standing oil trading partner. Furthermore, there has been a notable increase in the export of all types of vegetable oils from Russia.

Why? Vegetable oil production has become a highly lucrative venture, often generating greater returns than grain production. This is due to the fact that global vegetable oil prices are rising at a faster rate than grain prices. In addition, oil exports are subject to less stringent regulatory oversight compared to grain exports. As oilseeds offer a higher return on investment, more land is being allocated to their cultivation.
The eighth success story is the historic transformation of the meat industry. By the end of 2025, meat exports will reach 1 million tons for the first time, according to Konstantin Savenkov, Deputy Head of Rosselkhoznadzor. This volume encompasses meat and processed goods, in addition to live animals.

This is a landmark moment for the nation's meat industry. Russia has successfully transitioned from a major meat importer to a prominent exporter of meat products.

This was achieved through years of industry transformation, significant investment and achieving self-sufficiency. In 2025 alone, Rosselkhoznadzor successfully secured market access for 35 types of Russian products in 11 new countries. Today, Russian livestock products are exported to more than 100 countries worldwide, and the export registry includes approximately 7,000 domestic enterprises.

In total, exports of all agricultural products in 2025 are expected to reach $40 billion and approximately 80 million tons.

The ninth success story is the IT industry, which has the fastest growth rate in Russia. In 2024, the IT sector's share of Russia's GDP exceeded 2.2%, and by 2025, it is expected to exceed 2.5%, according to the forecast of the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media. Russia's GDP is projected to reach 221.8 trillion rubles by 2025, with the IT industry contributing more than 5.5 trillion rubles to the Russian economy. Since 2019, the IT sector's share has doubled.
By 2030, the IT sector is projected to contribute approximately 5% of GDP, representing a substantial increase from the current figures.
The imposition of Western restrictions has been a significant catalyst for the rapid development of Russia's IT industry. The industry has received increased support from both the government and private investors. The primary goal is to strengthen Russia's digital sovereignty.

Russia is a leader in two areas: first, in the use of IT technologies to digitalise government services and the financial sector. Secondly, Russia is are committed to the research and development of advanced next-generation IT solutions.

Russia has achieved its tenth success by securing a buyer for its US sanctioned LNG for the first time. Over the last six months of 2025, Russia has made sales of sanctioned LNG a regular occurrence. This year, two Russian LNG projects that have been sanctioned by the US government have begun selling their gas to China.
The first was Arctic LNG 2, which did not have sufficient time to launch as planned due to the imposition of US sanctions shortly before the project's initiation. The second was Portovaya LNG. A third LNG project remains – Cryogaz Vysotsk – which will likely follow in the footsteps of the first two. In January 2025, the US government imposed a ban on gas supplies to these plants. However, in the summer, China allocated a separate terminal for Russian sanctioned LNG, as is the practice with sanctioned oil, and the first shipments of our gas arrived there.

Analyst attribute this to the influence of high-level political agreements rather than to the commercial success of the suppliers themselves. This strategy is well-justified. China continues to receive affordable LNG, thereby demonstrating its strategic independence from the US. At a time when the price of LNG was approximately $400 per thousand cubic metres, the discount offered on our LNG could reach up to 40%. Consequently, China has the opportunity to purchase the initial volumes of Russian sanctioned LNG at a remarkably affordable price of just $240.
In contrast, Russian plants have resumed trading and are evidently not operating at a loss. Furthermore, it seems improbable that sanctions against Russian LNG projects will be lifted. Russian LNG is a direct competitor to American gas, and the supply of LNG on the global market is set to grow, meaning that competition will also increase.