Russia can enter world’s top four economies – Putin

Russia is already the biggest economy in Europe in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) terms, and could join the top four globally, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

PPP compares economic productivity and standards of living between countries by adjusting for the differences in the cost of goods and services.

While delivering his annual address to the Federal Assembly, in Moscow, the president noted that in 2023 the Russian economy outpaced the G7 states in terms of growth.

“The pace and quality of growth allow us to say that in the near future we will take a step forward and become one of the four economic powers of the world,” Putin said.

According to World Bank estimates, in 2023 Russia was the world’s fifth biggest economy in PPP terms, and the only country in Europe in the top five.

China was at the top of the list, followed by the US, while India and Japan were a respective third and fourth. Russia rounded out the top five, with Indonesia sixth and Germany, the biggest economy in the EU, seventh.

The Russian economy posted growth of 3.6% in 2023, according to official statistics, despite being subject to a wide array of international economic sanctions and being cut off from major financial markets.

Among the G7, meanwhile, Germany's GDP contracted by 0.3% in 2023, while the UK is estimated to have grown at 0.1% and the US at 2.5%.

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