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Gross Domestic Product, 1995

Region bln roubles    % Russian total
RUSSIAN TOTAL 1,408,099 100
Central 294,060 21
West Siberia 217,667 15
Urals 204,672 15
Volga 147,724 10
East Siberia 102,356 7
North Caucasus 88,663 6
Far East 81,277 6
Northern 75,408 5
North-west 68,545 5
Volgo-Vyatka 63,384 5
Central Black Earth 59,084 4
Source: Regiony Rossii [Russian Regions], 1996.

Big countries are likely to have a big gross domestic product in aggregate, whether they are rich or poor. With a population of 150 million people, by almost any standard the annual output of the Russian economy will be bigger than that of most member states of the European Union.

The principle of size always applies to comparisons of Russian regions in terms of GDP. The Central region, centred on Moscow, has the largest reported total GDP, and West Siberia and the Urals also rank high in GDP. It is also worth noting that Volga-Vyatka, where Nizhny Novgorod has pioneered privatization, also ranks at almost the bottom for GDP. This is not a criticism of economic policy but a reflection of the relatively small size of that region.

Caution: Russian statistics about Gross Domestic Product (or in this table Gross Regional Product) are heavily qualified. First, much economic activity is not officially registered, and thus not included in official estimates. Second, the value of the rouble loses much significance if translated into dollars or Deutsche Marks because price structures in Russia are not the same as in established market economies. Third, extremely high inflation at the time the figures were compiled, absence of data in constant prices and lack of a strictly uniform method of calculation across regions and years mean that these figures should only be used to compare regions in an approximate way and to analyse the dynamics of regional ranks.


CSPP School of Government & Public Policy U. of Strathclyde Glasgow G1 1XQ Scotland
Email: cspp@strath.ac.uk