The international sanctions against Russia are slowly beginning to take effect. In the third quarter, the country's gross domestic product fell by 4 percent. As it is the second straight decline, Russia is officially in recession.
Russia's economy has slipped into recession. In the third quarter from July to the end of September, gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 4.0 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to the national statistics agency Rosstat based on an initial estimate. In the second quarter, GDP fell by 4.1 percent.
The recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contracting GDP. The reason for the decline in economic output in Russia is also the sanctions imposed by the West.
According to Rosstat, wholesaling shrank 22.6 percent in the third quarter, retail 9.1 percent and industrial production 2 percent. The construction sector and agriculture, on the other hand, each grew by more than six percent.
The Russian central bank said last week that it expects GDP to fall by 3.5 percent for the year as a whole. The International Monetary Fund with minus 3.4 percent and the World Bank with minus 4.5 percent expect similar values.
