Figures from Rosstat, the Russian state statistical service, show that Russian GDP growth in the second quarter of 2014 amounted to 0,8 percent year-on-year after a 0,9 percent growth in Q1. When seasonal factors excluded, the figures indicate that the country’s economy is in the first half of the year was in a state of technical recession, newspaper Vedomosti reports.
If the negative trend continues, 2014 will be the most troublesome year for Russian economy since the financial crisis of 2009. Then, the national GDP dropped by 7,8 percent. Otherwise, Russia has had stable and significant economic growth ever since 1999.
In the the Russian north, the regional GDP has experienced zero-growth for a number of years. In Murmansk Oblast, regional GDP has been below zero in five of the last six years, data from the Rosstat office in Murmansk show. Murmansk GDP data from 2013 and 2014 are not yet available from the statistical service.
As the GDP growth is about to dip below zero, the Russian industrial production in the first half of 2014 still grew by 1,5 percent year-on-year. That is significanlty better than in 2013 when the industrial production growth for the whole year was only 0,4 percent.
In the Barents Region, the industrial production index in the first half of 2014 continued a downturn. In Murmansk, the industry production was minus 0,7 percent in the period. As reported by Patchwork Barents, the Komi Republic is the only part of Barents Russia with a continous industrial production growth over several years.
