Russia

Russia climbed 2 places to 8th, now ranking just behind France and ahead of Italy, though the jump came mostly from exchange-rate and price effects rather than output. US$ GDP rose 17.1% to US$2.56 trillion while real growth ran at +1.0%. Services account for 58.9% of output and industry 29.7%, with manufacturing at 13.7% and agriculture at 3.1%. Inflation stood at 8.7%, unemployment at 2.1%, and government gross debt at a low 16.6% of GDP.

The longer arc is steep. Russia ranked 21st in 2000 with a GDP of US$259.7 billion; its US$ GDP has since grown 9.9 times. Low local prices widen the gap between measures: GDP per capita of US$17,547 ranks 69th, but on a PPP basis, at $49,568 international dollars, it ranks 52nd, 17 places higher. The IMF projects only a +3% rise to US$2.63 trillion by 2030, which would place Russia 13th.