The Story of Russia’s Federal Budget: Changes and Trends from the 1990s to the Present

In the past three decades, the nominal revenues and expenditures of the Russian federal government have consistently grown. From the collapse of the USSR until the early 2000s, expenditures exceeded revenues due to the declining economy.

From the early 2000s until 2008, the revenue component of the budget exceeded its expenditures thanks to economic growth. However, following the 2008 crisis, short-term cycles of budget surpluses and deficits have been observed.

When analyzing the inflation-adjusted dynamics of the federal budget, we can see modest growth. Specifically, between 1993 and 2022, revenues increased by 2.4 times and expenditures by 1.9 times. However, from 2008 to 2022, revenues only experienced an 11% increase in real terms