Balance of Payments - Estimate

The essentials:

The Bank of Russia published the estimate of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation for April 2026 and revised the estimate for January-March 2026 due to the receipt of additional reporting data as of 15 June, 2026.

The current account surplus in April 2026 amounted to $6.7 billion (the updated value of March 2026 – $10.7 billion, April 2025 – $2.6 billion). The increase of the indicator year-on-year was mainly driven by the rise in trade balance surplus and the decrease in the deficit in primary and secondary income.

The current account surplus in January-April 2026 declined to $20.1 billion from $21.0 billion in the corresponding period of 2025 primarily owing to the growth of the deficit in the balance on services.

Key Aggregates in April 2026:

• the trade balance surplus amounted to $11.4 billion (March 2026 - $14.3 billion; April 2025 - $8.1 billion). The rise in indicator year-on-year was associated with the outstripping exports of goods growth compared to imports;
• the negative balance on services year-on-year remained virtually unchanged and amounted to $3.2 billion (March 2026 - $2.7 billion; April 2025 - $3.3 billion) as a result of proportionate reduction in services exports and imports. The deficit rise compared to March 2026 was caused by the Russians’ spending growth during foreign trips;
• the total deficit in primary and secondary income reduced year-on-year to $1.5 billion (March 2026 - $0.9 billion; April 2025 - $2.2 billion) mainly owing to the decrease in imputed reinvested income in favour of non-residents. The indicator increase compared to March 2026 was mostly driven by the growth of the amount of dividends accrued to non-residents;
• external assets (excluding reserve assets) rose by $8.3 billion (March 2026 - $10.8 billion; April 2025 - $2.6 billion);
• external liabilities growth amounted to $4.4 billion (March 2026 and April 2025 - $0.6 billion reduction) as a result of, among other things, the increase in residents’ indebtedness on international trade settlements;
• reserve assets declined by $0.1 billion (by $1.2 billion in March 2026).

Key Aggregates in January-April 2026:

• the trade balance surplus changed insignificantly amounting to $38.5 billion ($38.8 billion in January-April 2025) due to the proportionate increase in exports and imports of goods;
• the deficit in the balance on services grew to $11.9 billion from $11.0 billion in January-April 2025 owing to the services imports increase, influenced by the rise in Russians’ spending during foreign trips. Services exports rose due to the travel and transport services;
• the total deficit in primary and secondary income reduced to $6.6 billion ($6.9 billion a year earlier), the main factor was the investment income deficit decline due to the growth in dividends accrued receivable from non-residents;
• external assets (excluding reserve assets) grew by $24.7 billion (by $22.6 billion in January-April 2025);
• external liabilities increased by $7.4 billion ($2.7 billion a year earlier) mainly in the form of other investment;
• reserve assets decreased by $6.8 billion (by $7.8 billion a year earlier).