Balance of payments, international investment position and external debt of the Russian Federation
1st quarter of 2026
Last update: 30.06.2026
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The Bank of Russia published the balance of payments, international investment position and the external debt of the Russian Federation in Q1 2026 and revised indicators for 2024 and 2025 due to accounting of additional reporting data as of June 30, 2026.
Balance of payments of the Russian Federation
Main components of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation, in billions of US dollars
| Current account | 18,3 | 2,2 | 8,2 | 10,1 | 38,8 | 12,7 |
| Trade balance | 30,6 | 23,6 | 31,3 | 27,7 | 113,2 | 27,1 |
| Exports of goods | 97,3 | 98,7 | 107,7 | 115,8 | 419,5 | 100,7 |
| Imports of goods | 66,7 | 75,1 | 76,4 | 88,1 | 306,4 | 73,6 |
| Balance on services | -7,6 | -12,6 | -15,1 | -13,3 | -48,6 | -8,8 |
| Balance on primary and secondary income | -4,7 | -8,9 | -7,9 | -4,2 | -25,7 | -5,6 |
| Financial account | 10,8 | -1,7 | 8,4 | 7,6 | 25,1 | 11,2 |
| Net acquisition of financial assets, excluding reserve assets | 20,3 | 4,1 | 8,7 | 5,5 | 38,6 | 18,2 |
| Net incurrence of liabilities | 3,6 | 2,4 | -5,3 | -5,7 | -5,0 | 0,3 |
| Reserve assets | -5,9 | -3,4 | -5,6 | -3,6 | -18,5 | -6,7 |
The current account surplus in Q1 2026 increased to $12.7 billion from $10.1 billion in the previous quarter (Fig. 1) primarily as a result of the deficit in the balance on services reduction.
Main components of the current account, in billions of US dollars
The trade balance surplus did not change significantly amounting to $27.1 billion following the comparable decrease in exports of goods by $15.1 billion and in imports by $14.5 billion after the seasonal increase in indicators’ in Q4 2025 (Fig.2).
Trade balance of the Russian Federation, in billions of US dollars
The deficit in the balance on services declined by $4.5 billion to $8.8 billion because of the outstripping imports reduction (Fig. 3). The main factors were the drop in Russians’ spending during foreign trips and outbound tourist flow decrease. Services exports fell due to the decline in other services provided to non-residents, including construction and other business services.
Balance on services, in billions of US dollars
- Other services include: manufacturing, maintenance and repair services, construction, financial services, insurance, telecommunications, computer, and information services, charges for the use of intellectual property, other business services, personal, cultural and recreational services, government services.
The total deficit in balance on primary and secondary income amounted to $5.6 billion, having increased by $1.4 billion compared to Q4 2025. Its dynamics were driven by the transition of the balance on investment income to negative values owing to the rise in imputed reinvested income in favour of non-residents and the reduction in the amount of income received by residents from abroad. The negative balance on secondary income decreased due to the more considerable decline in transfers payable. The deficit in balance on compensation of employees dropped as a result of the reduction in the number of foreign workers.
Financial account surplus grew to $11.2 billion ($7.6 billion in Q4 2025) (Fig. 4) due to the accelerating growth of foreign assets (including reserve assets) to $11.5 billion ($1.8 billion in Q4 2025). At the same time, foreign liabilities rose insignificantly by $0.3 billion after the decrease recorded in Q4 2025 (by $5.7 billion) due to the reorganization of residents foreign assets.
Net lending by functional categories, in billions of US dollars
By functional category, financial account surplus is formed by the increase in other investment.
As for direct investment, net borrowing in the amount of $1.7 billion ($3.3 billion in Q4 2025) was formed mainly by the dynamics of liabilities owing to the increase in imputed reinvested income.
Portfolio investment accounted for the comparable increase in assets and liabilities represented primarily by collective investment instruments ($2.2 billion net lending in the previous quarter). Transactions with debt securities were insignificant.
The financial derivatives balance as in Q4 2025 amounted to $0.1 billion owing to the outstripping liabilities reduction compared to assets.
Other investment grew by $19.5 billion ($12.1 billion in the previous quarter). The important role was played by the increase in receivables, including claims on non-residents’ in international trade settlements as well as ruble-denominated loans provided by the Russian corporate sector to non-residents from friendly countries.
Reserve assets decreased by $6.7 billion (by $3.6 billion in Q4 2025).
International investment position of the Russian Federation
The increase in net international investment position of the Russian Federation in Q1 2026 (from $1,096.9 billion at the end of Q4 2025 to $1,110.7 billion as of March 31, 2026) was caused by the more significant decrease in liabilities compared to external assets (Fig. 5).
Foreign assets and liabilities of the Russian Federation, in billions of US dollars
| Total | 1766,8 | 1763,3 | 670,0 | 652,6 |
| Direct investment | 276,4 | 265,8 | 299,2 | 290,1 |
| Portfolio investment | 52,9 | 50,3 | 140,7 | 138,1 |
| Financial derivatives | 0,1 | 0,1 | 0,1 | 0,0 |
| Other investment | 682,7 | 698,1 | 230,0 | 224,4 |
| Reserve assets | 754,9 | 749,0 |
External assets of the Russian Federation declined by $3.6 billion and amounted to $1,763.3 billion ($51.4 billion growth in Q4 2025). The negative contribution of revaluation and other changes exceeded the positive balance of payments transactions. Direct investment reduced by $10.6 billion ($1.1 billion growth in Q4 2025) as a result of, among other things, the dollar equivalent decrease of foreign companies’ equity instruments value influenced by price and exchange rate factors. Portfolio investment declined by $2.6 billion (by $3.2 billion in Q4 2025) mainly due to the decline in value of foreign companies’ equity instruments.
External liabilities of the Russian Federation reduced by $17.4 billion to $652.6 billion since the end of Q4 2025 ($2.1 billion rise in Q4 2025). The significant role was played by equity instruments negative revaluation.
International investment position of the Russian Federation, in billions of US dollars
External debt of the Russian Federation
External debt of the Russian Federation as of March 31, 2026 amounted to $299.1 billion (11% of GDP over the last 12 months), having decreased by $7.7 billion in Q1 2026 (Fig. 6).
The banking system’s external liabilities dropped most significantly – by $4.8 billion to $106.7 billion (35.7% of the total external debt). The external debt of other sectors declined by $2.5 billion amounting to $169.3 billion (56.6%). General government liabilities fall by $0.4 billion to $23.0 billion (7.7%).
External debt of the Russian Federation, in billions of US dollars
- Minor discrepancies between the total and the sum of components are due to the rounding of data.