Drivers of Growth in Russia

Between the end of the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s Russia experienced
significant growth in GDP per capita that was driven by transitional convergence,
structural reforms, and improvements in the terms of trade. Reforms to the structure of
the economy boosted growth by over 2 percentage points per annum with improvements
in telecommunication infrastructure, financial development, and a reduction in the GDP
share of government consumption being the most important structural reforms. The
paper discusses Russia's growth performance relative to comparator countries:
countries in the European and Central Asia regions, advanced natural resource
exporting countries and the BRICS countries. Economic growth was significantly lifted in
advanced natural resource exporting countries due to the international commodity price
boom, for example, in Russia improvements in the terms of trade lifted growth by over 1
percentage point per annum. In the group of advanced natural resource exporting
countries and BRICS countries, Russia is at the forefront in terms of growth benefits
arising from structural reforms.