Russia's economy grew in 2023 and 2024, driven by increased military spending, trade, financial sector activities, and construction. This led to the World Bank upgrading Russia to a "high-income" country, despite Western sanctions over the Ukraine invasion.
High inflation, brain drain, lagging technology, and the unsustainability of wartime economic growth due to heavy military spending still plague Russia's economy, and are not likely to go away.
Ukraine's economy also saw growth in 2023, primarily driven by construction and increased investment for reconstruction after ongoing destruction, leading to an upgrade to "upper-middle-income" status, despite population decline due to the Russian invasion.
The BRICS alliance is expanding with new members, embracing de-dollarization initiatives, and working towards creating a multipolar world order, with China and Russia leading efforts to challenge the US dollar's dominance.
China remains the top GDP in the world by purchasing power parity (PPP), with the U.S. in second place. Russia and India are among the top five countries globally for GDP, while India is expected to become one of the world's dominant economies by 2028.
Western economic sanctions and incentives have been insufficient to deter determined adversaries like Russia. The U.S. is expected to continue issuing unilateral economic measures against Russia and its allies.
Sources: Economic Times, Coingape, Firstpost, SCMP, The Moscow Times, Quartz, Business Insider, Newsweek, Washington Examiner
This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.
