OREANDA-NEWS. At the end of 2020, Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) will decrease by 5%, according to an updated forecast of the European Commission (EC). Last fall, its experts predicted that the Russian economy would continue to grow weakly at 1.4% per annum, but the pandemic of the coronavirus infection COVID-19 and the collapse of world oil prices made them change their minds.

“Russia received a double blow in the form of a sharp drop in oil prices and a drop in domestic consumption as a result of restrictions imposed due to the outbreak of COVID-19,” the EC report says. “Against this background, real GDP is likely to decline by 5% in 2020, more than in 2015 (minus 2.3%), when the previous crisis in oil prices and Western sanctions hit the economy”, the EC report says. 

According to Rosstat, in 2015, Russia's GDP fell by 2%, and more than 5% last fell in 2009 (minus 7.8%).