Who are still Russia's main trading partners in Europe?

According to the Russian customs service, the primary trading partners in Europe for 2023 have been Belarus, Germany, and the Netherlands. This conclusion is based on analysis of Russian customs data, and national statistics of other countries from Eurostat.

The following countries together comprise about 50% of European trade turnover with Russia, while the figure decreased by about half to $163.4 billion.

The volume leader for trade turnover was Minsk, at about $55 billion at the end of 2023, and shall probably double come the end of 2024. It is notable that under sanctions, trade turnover between Russia and Belarus grew at about 13.5% from 2022 to 2023, setting a new record.

Trade turnover with the EU countries decreased almost three times to just $96 billion. The main trading partners were Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy. Russia's much smaller trade turnover of $5 billion was conducted with Hungary, Belgium, Poland, France, and Austria.

Russia's main trading partners globally today now hail from Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Global South, with the EU just a shadow of what had once been a dynamic trading partnership.