MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. The Russian foreign trade surplus gained $2.5 bln in January - February 2025 and reached $18.5 bln, compared to $16 bln a year earlier, the Bank of Russia said in its preliminary estimate.
The surplus of the foreign trade in goods increased by $4.2 bln as of the end of February 2025 on account of export growth to $31.3 bln from $29.2 bln in January.
The deficit of the services balance dropped by $1.1 bln to $1.7 bln, driven by smaller expenses of Russians in foreign trips after the seasonal rise of the indicator in January 2025, the regulator noted.
The current account surplus increased from $2.9 bln in January 2025 to $7.9 bln this February. The increase of the current account surplus was largely driven by trade balance strengthening on account of the increase in the cost of goods export against contracted imports, the Central Bank said.