BOFIT Weekly Review 2015/21
The slide of Russian output deepened in April
Rosstat reports Russian GDP contracted 1.9 % y-o-y in the first quarter, and that the volume of economic activity as measured by indicators for the five core sectors of the economy (industry, agriculture, construction, trade and transportation) contracted 2.3 %. This was despite much poorer domestic demand, as e.g. fixed capital investment and retail sales plunged 6–7 % y-o-y. Several observers noted that the weak ruble supported output in certain branches of basic industries. Export volumes in the oil and metals branches were also up. Public sector spending rose a lot.
Strikingly, the minor contraction in industrial output in the first quarter turned to a dive in April. Industrial output overall was down 4.5 % y-o-y. The drop in manufacturing output exceeded 7 %.