The essentials:
The Bank of Russia published the estimate of the balance of payments of the Russian Federation for October 2025 and revised the estimate for January – September 2025 due to the receipt of additional reporting data as of 15 December, 2025.
The current account surplus in October 2025 amounted to $4.3 billion (September 2025 – $8.7 billion surplus, October 2024 – $3.6 billion surplus). The dynamics of the indicator compared to the previous period was primarily driven by a decrease in the trade balance surplus as well as a growth in the deficit of other current account components.
In January-October 2025 the current account surplus reduced to $37.1 billion from $52.7 billion in the corresponding period of 2024 due to the decline in trade balance surplus and the growth in the deficit in the balance on services with a stable deficit in primary and secondary income.
| Key Aggregates | Q3 2025 (estimate) | July 2025 (estimate) | August 2025 (estimate) | September 2025 (estimate) | October 2025 (estimate) | January-October 2025 (estimate) | For reference: October 2024 | For reference: January-October 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current account | 10.8 | 2.2 | -0.1 | 8.7 | 4.3 | 37.1 | 3.6 | 52.7 |
| Trade balance | 35.0 | 13.3 | 8.0 | 13.7 | 11.1 | 101.5 | 9.1 | 109.6 |
| Balance on services | -15.3 | -5.6 | -6.0 | -3.7 | -4.4 | -40.0 | -3.0 | -31.5 |
| Balance on primary and secondary income | -8.9 | -5.5 | -2.1 | -1.3 | -2.4 | -24.5 | -2.5 | -25.5 |
| Net acquisition of financial assets, excluding reserve assets | 7.7 | 4.6 | 0.0 | 3.1 | 3.7 | 35.4 | 3.8 | 52.1 |
| Net incurrence of liabilities | -6.5 | 1.6 | -2.7 | -5.4 | 0.1 | -2.6 | 3.3 | 2.9 |
| Reserve assets | -5.6 | -1.3 | -2.2 | -2.1 | -1.8 | -16.7 | 1.9 | -9.5 |
Key Aggregates in October 2025:
- the trade balance surplus amounted to $11.1 billion (the updated value of September 2025 - $13.7 billion surplus; October 2024 - $9.1 billion surplus). The main cause was the reduction in mineral products exports, which was partially offset by increasing supplies of non-energy goods. Imports of goods relative to September 2025 remained virtually unchanged;
- the deficit in the balance on services increased to $4.4 billion (September 2025 - $3.7 billion deficit; October 2024 - $3.0 billion deficit), the key role was played by the rising other business and travel services imports;
- the total deficit in primary and secondary income rose to $2.4 billion (September 2025 - $1.3 billion deficit; October 2024 - $2.5 billion deficit) owing to the seasonal increase of dividends accrued to non-residents;
- external assets (excluding reserve assets) amounted to $3.7 billion ($3.1 billion growth in September 2025) primarily in the form of receivables and non-residents’ indebtedness on outstanding settlements;
- external liabilities remained virtually unchanged ($5.4 billion reduction in September 2025);
- reserve assets declined by $1.8 billion (by $2.1 billion in September 2025).
Key Aggregates in January-October 2025:
- the trade balance surplus decreased to $101.5 billion from $109.6 billion in January-October 2024 due to the more significant reduction of exports compared to imports;
- the deficit in the balance on services rose to $40.0 billion from $31.5 billion in January-October 2024. The key factor was the increase in travel and other services imports, including construction services, which was partially offset by the rise in the exports of other services provided to non-residents;
- the deficit in primary and secondary income declined to $24.5 billion ($25.5 billion a year earlier) primarily driven by the reduction of dividends accrued to non-residents and reinvested earnings;
- the slowdown in the growth of external assets (excluding reserve assets) to $35.4 billion from $52.1 billion a year earlier was, among other things, caused by the decrease of non-residents’ indebtedness on outstanding settlements;
- external liabilities dropped by $2.6 billion (rose by $2.9 billion in January-October 2024). The main reason was the reduction of residents’ indebtedness on outstanding settlements;
- reserve assets decreased by $16.7 billion (by $9.5 billion a year earlier).