The growth of Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 4.1 percent in 2024. Data on economic growth in 2023 have been revised upwards to also 4.1 percent compared to the previously reported 3.6 percent, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced, quoted by Agence France-Presse, BTA reports.
This result "exceeds expectations", Mishustin said when presenting data from the Russian statistics agency "Rostat" to President Vladimir Putin during a meeting broadcast by the Kremlin.
"This is primarily due to the intensive growth of industry", Mishustin explained.
Putin welcomed the country's economic performance but ordered Mishustin to deal with rising prices.
"Overall, the result is good", Putin commented.
"The task for this year is to achieve a more balanced trajectory of growth and reduction of inflation", he said.
In response, Prime Minister Mishustin confirmed that it was "absolutely clear that the main challenge is inflation", which reached 9.5 percent last year.
The rise in prices of basic goods has become the leading news in Russia in recent months.
The price of butter jumped 36 percent in 2024, according to Rosstat data, and overall food prices rose by more than 11 percent.
Prices were pushed up by a rapid increase in government spending amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, AFP reported.
Government spending is expected to be two-thirds higher in 2025 than in 2021, before the war in Ukraine began.
Last year, Putin said Russia had allocated 8.7 percent of GDP to defense and security.
This year, Russia's economy is expected to slow sharply, according to estimates from the Russian Central Bank presented earlier this week. The central bank expects growth of about 1.6 percent this year, as well as about 1.7 and 2 percent in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
For 2023 and 2024, the Russian Central Bank was betting on GDP growth of 3.6 percent and about 3.9 percent.