Russian economy steeply contracts on war, sanctions

The Russian GDP from April through June declined 4 percent over last year according to new government data. Russia’s economy contracted in the second quarter as the economic consequences of its war in Ukraine took hold.

The economy shrank 4 percent from April through June compared with a year ago, the Russian statistics agency said on Friday. It is the first quarterly GDP report to fully capture the change in the economy since the invasion of Ukraine in February, when Western sanctions shut Russia off from much of the global financial system, and many countries severed trading relationships with Moscow. It was also a sharp reversal from the first quarter, when the economy rose 3.5 percent.

Even as imports to Russia dried up and financial transactions were blocked to the extent that the country was forced to default on its foreign debt, the Russian economy has proved stronger than some economists initially expected. But analysts expect the economic toll to grow heavier as Western nations increasingly turn away from Russian oil and gas, critical sources of export revenue.