Trade between the European Union and Russia has fallen significantly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, especially noticeably in recent months, the EU statistics office (Eurostat) reported Friday.
Russia’s share of EU imports fell to 4.3 percent from 9.5 percent between February and December 2022, according to the statistical data. During the same period, Russia’s share of EU exports fell to 2 percent from 4 percent.
The EU’s trade deficit with Russia peaked at €18.2 billion in March 2022 and then gradually declined to €6.0 billion in December 2022. The value of imports from Russia during this period fell 53% to €10.3 billion from €21.8 billion.
Eurostat notes that “as Russia gradually replaced other trading partners, its share of EU imports fell across six key commodities. Among them, the largest drop was recorded for coal (to 22% in 2022 from 45% a year earlier), natural gas (to 21% from 36%), fertilizers (to 22% from 29%), iron and steel (to 10% from 16%).
