Industrial Productivity
Region | mln roubles per employee | % Russian mean |
West Siberia | 97 | 147 |
Northern | 82 | 124 |
East Siberia | 81 | 123 |
Far East | 73 | 112 |
Urals | 67 | 102 |
RUSSIAN MEAN | 66 | 100 |
Volga | 59 | 90 |
Central Black Earth | 59 | 89 |
Central | 49 | 75 |
North-west | 47 | 72 |
Volgo-Vyatka | 44 | 67 |
North Caucasus | 37 | 57 |
Source: Promyshlennost' Rossii [Russian Industry], 1996 (calculated) |
The Soviet Union gave priority to industry, long after Western market economies became oriented more toward the service sector. Its priority meant that industry was relatively favoured in the allocation of resources from the national plan. It also meant that industrial enterprises were expected to report favourable results to the plan, by whatever means necessary.
The result of decades of integrating industrial production into the official national economy is that industrial productivity and officially recorded Gross Domestic Product show a high correlation. Regions that are high in reported productivity, such as West Siberia, are also high in GDP per capita, and those such as North Caucasus and Volgo-Vyatka, that are low on one measure are also low on the other.