The essentials:
The Bank of Russia published the estimate of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation for January 2026 and revised the estimate for October – December 2025 due to the receipt of additional reporting data as of 17 March, 2026.
The current account surplus in January 2026 amounted to $0.4 billion (December 2025 – $2.8 billion, January 2025 – $2.8 billion). The decrease of the indicator relative to the previous period was due to the seasonal factors while its reduction relative to January 2025 was driven by the smaller trade balance surplus than a year earlier and the increase in the negative contribution of the primary and secondary income balance.
| Key Aggregates | Q4 2025 (estimate) | October 2025 (estimate) | November 2025 (estimate) | December 2025 (estimate) | January 2026 (estimate) | For reference: January 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current account balance | 9.4 | 4.6 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 2.8 |
| Trade balance | 27.0 | 10.9 | 6.3 | 9.8 | 6.6 | 7.4 |
| Exports of goods | 114.8 | 37.4 | 33.6 | 43.9 | 27.5 | 29.9 |
| Imports of goods | 87.8 | 26.5 | 27.3 | 34.0 | 20.9 | 22.5 |
| Balance on services | -13.4 | -4.4 | -3.2 | -5.9 | -3.4 | -3.0 |
| Balance on primary and secondary income | -4.3 | -1.9 | -1.1 | -1.2 | -2.8 | -1.6 |
| Net acquisition of financial assets, excluding reserve assets | 23.5 | 5.6 | 11.1 | 6.7 | 3.8 | 8.4 |
| Net incurrence of liabilities | 9.7 | 0.9 | 8.0 | 0.8 | 3.8 | 2.7 |
| Reserve assets | -3.6 | -1.8 | -1.6 | -0.2 | -3.0 | -3.0 |
Key Aggregates in January 2026:
- the trade balance surplus amounted to $6.6 billion (the updated value of December 2025 - $9.8 billion surplus; January 2025 - $7.4 billion surplus). The decrease in the indicator in January 2026 relative to January 2025 is due to the more significant reduction of exports of goods compared to imports;
- the deficit in the balance on services is estimated at $3.4 billion (December 2025 - $5.9 billion; January 2025 - $3.0 billion), the deficit rise relative to January 2025 was influenced by the more significant Russians’ spending during foreign trips than a year earlier, as well as by the increase in the amount of other services, including construction services. Services imports growth was partially offset by $0.5 billion rise in exports, primarily in travel and construction services;
- the total deficit in primary and secondary income grew to $2.8 billion (December 2025 - $1.2 billion; January 2025 - $1.6 billion), the main reason of the dynamics in annual terms was the increase in dividends accrued to non-residents;
- external assets (excluding reserve assets) rose by $3.8 billion ($6.7 billion in December 2025, $8.4 billion in January 2025) primarily because of the other investment growth;
- the growth of external liabilities increased to $3.8 billion ($0.8 billion in December 2025, $2.7 billion in January 2025);
- reserve assets declined by $3.0 billion (by $0.2 billion in December 2025).
Department responsible for publication: Statistics Department
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Last updated on: 17.03.2026