RT reported that the World Bank (WB) has sharply increased its growth forecast for the Russian economy, expecting Russia's GDP to grow by 3.2% this year. This figure is a sharp increase compared to the WB's previous forecast of 2.9%.
The World Bank also raised its forecast for Russia's economic growth in 2025 to 1.6%, up from the 1.4% forecast in June, according to its latest Europe and Central Asia Economic Update released on October 17. The forecast for 2026 remained unchanged at 1.1%.
“Growth remains well above potential due to upbeat consumer sentiment, higher real incomes and significant increases in government spending, including on defence and infrastructure,” the report said.
In July, the World Bank reported in its annual national income rankings that Russia’s economic growth had defied Western sanctions. Many analysts attributed the strong performance to Russia’s trade diversion to the East and economic policies implemented to offset the impact of the restrictions.
Russia has moved from the “upper middle” to “high” income group, thanks to strong economic growth, according to the World Bank’s annual national income rankings. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the Russian economy to grow faster than all advanced economies in 2024.
Russia's economy is growing at a faster pace than expected, with GDP expected to jump 3.9% this year, according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
Increasing investment and rising real disposable incomes have made “the estimate of the economy’s dynamics this year also higher than what we put into our initial forecasts,” Mr. Siluanov said recently.
Western sanctions imposed on Russia amid the Ukraine conflict have made the country's economy stronger, said Nikita Anisimov, rector of HSE University in Moscow.
Speaking on behalf of HSE economists at a parliamentary hearing on the draft federal budget for 2025-2027 on October 7, Anisimov said that sanctions on Russia had effectively accelerated the restructuring of the country’s economy, which has “fundamentally ended” Russia’s dependence on exports of raw materials such as oil and gas to fund its budget – a task the government has struggled with for years, making the Russian economy stronger and more resilient.
The topic of Russia's success in reducing its dependence on oil and gas revenues was also raised by President Vladimir Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in June. He noted that Russia's GDP grew by 3.6% last year, recovering from a 1.2% decline in 2022, when the country was hit by widespread economic sanctions from the West.
Mr Putin said much of that growth came from non-resource-based industries such as manufacturing, construction and agriculture, as well as trade, hotels and financial services.
