Estimate of Key Aggregates of the Balance of Payments of the Russian Federation

The essentials:

The Bank of Russia published the estimate of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation for December 2025 and revised the estimate for January – November 2025 due to the receipt of additional reporting data as of 12 February, 2026.

The current account surplus in December 2025 amounted to $2.6 billion (November 2025 – $1.9 billion, December 2024 – $2.7 billion). The dynamics of the indicator relative to November 2025 were driven by the increase in the trade balance surplus.

In 2025 the current account surplus reduced to $41.4 billion (2% of GDP) from $62.6 billion in the corresponding period of 2024 (3% of GDP), the main role was played by the decline in trade balance surplus because of the decrease in exports of goods with relatively stable imports as well as the growth in the deficit in the balance on services owing to the more significant increase in imports of services.

Key Aggregates in December 2025:

• the trade balance surplus amounted to $10.0 billion (the updated value of November 2025 – $6.7 billion surplus; December 2024 – $10.2 billion surplus). The increase in the indicator relative to November is due to the more significant growth of exports of goods compared to imports, mainly related to seasonal factors;
• the deficit in the balance on services rose to $5.9 billion as compared to the previous month (November 2025 – $3.3 billion deficit; December 2024 – $4.4 billion deficit) owing to the traditional end-of-year growth in outbound tourist flow, reflected in the rise in travel services imports, and the increase in other services imports, including construction services as well as telecommunication, computer, and information services (ICT). At the same time exports of inbound tourism services, construction and ICT services increased. In annual terms (related to December 2024), the growth of the deficit in the balance on services was primarily due to the increase in Russians’ spending during foreign trips;
• the total deficit in primary and secondary income amounted to $1.5 billion (November 2025 – $1.5 billion; December 2024 – $3.1 billion); in annual terms the dynamics were caused by the decrease in dividends accrued to non-residents;
• external assets accumulation (excluding reserve assets) slowed down to $7.1 billion ($10.4 billion in November 2025) mainly due to the reduction in private sector foreign claims;
• the growth of external liabilities slowed down to $1.3 billion ($8.1 billion in November 2025), the important role was played by the decrease in direct investment liabilities after large transactions in November, related to the restructuring of Russian companies’ foreign assets;
• reserve assets declined by $0.2 billion (by $1.6 billion in November 2025).

Key Aggregates in 2025:

• the trade balance surplus reduced to $116.7 billion from $132.1 billion in 2024 as a result of the decrease in exports of goods, primarily mineral products. Imports of goods remained virtually unchanged;
• the deficit in the balance on services rose to $48.6 billion from $38.4 billion in 2024. Its dynamics were driven by the outstripping increase in services imports owing to the growth in Russians’ spending during foreign trips due to the rise in the number of trips abroad and average travel expenses. In addition, other services imports, including construction and ICT services, rose. Services exports growth was mainly affected by the rise in foreigners’ expenses during their visits to the Russian Federation and the provision of other services to non-residents, including construction, ICT and other business services;
• the deficit in primary and secondary income declined to $26.7 billion ($31.1 billion a year earlier), the significant factor was the drop in investment income deficit influenced by the significant reduction in reinvested earnings accrued to non-residents, as well as the decrease of dividends accrued to non-residents;
• the financial account surplus (excluding reserve assets) totaled $45.8 billion ($56.6 billion a year earlier), its dynamics were determined by the decline in foreign assets accumulation by residents and the increase in external liabilities;
• the slowdown in the growth of external assets (excluding reserve assets) to $55.8 billion from $65.8 billion a year earlier was affected by, among other things, the decrease in growth rates of non-residents’ indebtedness on outstanding international settlements;
• external liabilities growth by $10.0 billion ($9.2 billion a year earlier) was formed primarily due to the direct investment instruments: there was a transition from net capital withdrawal to capital raising;
• reserve assets decreased by $18.5 billion (by $3.8 billion a year earlier).

Current account components, in billions of US dollars