Sanctions? Russian economy jumps 2.5% in October thanks to robust agricultural & industrial results
Stronger output in the agriculture and industrial sectors boosted the Russian economy in October against the same period a year ago, the country’s economy ministry said on Tuesday.
Gross domestic product rose 2.5 percent last month, up from 1.1 percent in September, according to monthly data revealed by the ministry. The pick-up reportedly comes after a 1.3 percent expansion in the third quarter.
Russia’s agriculture marked 11.9 percent growth in October followed by a six-percent decline in September, and an 11.3 percent fall in the previous month.
The country’s industrial sector also made a significant contribution to the overall economic growth. Industrial output grew by 3.7 percent in October against a 2.1 percent rise in September. Increasing at a record pace, mining operations demonstrated a 7.4 growth in October, while manufacturing rose 2.7 percent. At the same time, the construction sector expanded by 2.9 percent after a modest result of just 0.1 percent in September.
The Russian economy could have grown 1.8 percent so far in this fourth quarter which began October 1, according to Capital Economics research firm.
“We expect this recovery to be sustained in 2019 and think that GDP growth will be stronger than most anticipate next year,” Liam Carson, an economist at Capital Economics told Reuters.
At the same time, Russia’s retail sales marked a year-over-year growth of nearly two percent in October, but down from 2.2 percent in the previous month. Real wages reportedly increased 4.4 percent year on year in October, but missed analysts’ expectations of 6.8 percent growth.
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