Now Russia's economy is also collapsing: Official data from Moscow

Moscow - Apparently, the sanctions imposed by the West are not only choking off their own economy. They are now also hitting Russia with force: According to the Ministry of Economics in Moscow, the gross domestic product (GDP) collapsed in the second quarter by 4.0 percent compared to the same period last year. In the first three months it had grown by 3.5 percent.

The decline was cushioned by the booming commodity business. Without the profits from oil and gas exports, Russia's GDP would have plummeted even further. According to the Ministry of Economy in Moscow, the trend is also clearly negative. While economic output had fallen by 2.8 percent in April, it was already 4.3 percent in May, before the drop reached its peak of 4.9 percent in June.

Decline despite boom in oil and agriculture
The ministry reported that the improved situation of the extraction industry and growth in agriculture have even supported the GDP. This prevented an even greater decline. After falling 2.4 percent in May, oil production rose 2.7 percent in June. And agricultural production grew by 2.1 percent, as in the previous month. Oil processing has also recently recovered: it fell by only 0.5 percent after 5.5 percent in May.

Most recently, Russia had reported a budget plus of the equivalent of 23 billion euros for the first half of the year. Inflation in the country is around 17 percent.

Source: Junge Freiheit