State spending in Russia has risen enormously and conceals the slump on the part of the citizens.
(Photo: Imago Images)
Berlin, Dusseldorf, Riga Exactly one year ago on Friday, Russia attacked Ukraine and with it its own economy. That was the unanimous verdict of Western observers in spring 2022. War costs and sanctions would have to drive the Russian economy into a crash, it was said at the time.
A year later, a different picture emerges. According to estimates by the Russian statistics office Rosstat on Monday, Russia’s economy shrank by 2.1 percent last year. For 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) even estimates that the Russian economy will grow 0.3 percent faster than Germany with 0.1 percent.
Are the sanctions against the country not working? The short answer is yes, but it takes time and the data is confusing. Four reasons:
1. Growth figures are hardly meaningful in a war economy
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