MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Forecasts by international organizations regarding the growth of the Russian economy in recent years have consistently underestimated actual outcomes, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Polina Kryuchkova told journalists commenting on reports that the IMF had revised downward its GDP growth forecast for Russia in 2025 to 0.6%.
"International organizations have always been extremely conservative in their assessments of the Russian economy. In recent years, their forecasts have consistently been below the actual figures," Kryuchkova said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its 2025 GDP growth forecast for Russia to 0.6%, while keeping the 2026 estimate unchanged at 1%, according to the Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook report. The forecast for the current year was reduced by 0.3 percentage points compared with the July estimates. For the following year, IMF experts still expect Russia’s GDP to grow by 1%. Last year, the Russian economy expanded by 4.3%, according to the Fund. In April, the IMF had assessed it at 4.1%.
According to the Fund, inflation in Russia reached 8.4% in 2024, is projected to rise to 9% in 2025, and is expected to decline to 5.2% in 2026. Last year, the unemployment rate in Russia was 2.5% - the figure is expected to fall to 2.4% this year and rise to 3.1% in the following year.
Earlier, Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development lowered its own GDP growth forecast for 2025 from 2.5% to 1%, and from 2.4% to 1.3% for 2026.