EU imports from Russia in Q2 2024 down 87% compared with Q2 2022
There was a 59 per cent decline in European Union exports to Russia and an 87 per cent drop in imports from Russia between the second quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2024, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on August 28.
EU trade with Russia has been strongly affected since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Eurostat said.
The EU has imposed various import and export restrictions on several products, resulting in the decline in trade between the second quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2024.
In the second quarter of 2024, both imports from and exports to Russia decreased by 16 per cent and 9.5 per cent, respectively, compared with the previous quarter.
As a result, the EU’s trade deficit with Russia stood at 0.2 billion euro, significantly below the deficit peak of 45.8 billion euro recorded in the second quarter of 2022.
Eurostat said that when looking at the changes in Russia’s shares in extra-EU trade, both exports and imports dropped considerably below the levels prior to Russia’s invasion.
Russia’s share in the extra-EU exports fell from 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 to 1.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2024. Over the same period, the share of extra-EU imports from Russia fell from 9.3 per cent to 1.3 per cent.
Looking at quarterly data, the EU’s total trade balance with Russia is strongly correlated with the balance for energy products.
High prices for energy products in 2021 and 2022 caused a considerable trade deficit, peaking at 45.8 billion euro in the second quarter of 2022. However, import restrictions and falling energy prices significantly reduced the trade deficit, which stood at 0.2 billion euro in the second quarter of 2024.
In the first quarter of 2024, the volume of liquefied natural gas imported from Russia were 7 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2021. However, due to rising prices its value in this period increased by 164 per cent.
The value of EU imports of liquefied natural gas from Russia increased considerably between the first quarter of 2021 and the third quarter of 2022 as prices increased sharply.
Measured in value, imports of natural gas from Russia steadily decreased until the third quarter of 2023, increased in the next two quarters before falling in the second quarter of 2024.
Russia’s share in EU imports of liquefied natural gas dropped from 16 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 to 13 per cent in the second quarter of 2023 but bounced back to 18 per cent in the second quarter of 2024. The highest share in the second quarter of 2024 was observed for the United States (46 per cent).
In the second quarter of 2024, the volume of natural gas in gaseous state imported from Russia were 59 per cent lower than in the first quarter of 2021. However, due to rising prices its value in this period decreased by only 32 per cent.
The value of EU imports of natural gas in gaseous state from Russia increased considerably between the first quarter of 2021 and the third quarter of 2022 as prices increased sharply. In the following quarters both volume and value decreased considerably.
Russia’s share in EU imports of natural gas in gaseous state dropped from 29 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 to 18 per cent in the second quarter of 2024. In this period the share for Algeria (+21 per cent) increased most.
In the first quarter of 2024, the volume of petroleum oil imported from Russia was six per cent of what it had been in the first quarter of 2021,while its value had dropped to eight per cent in the same period.
EU imports of petroleum oil (combined crude and non-crude) from Russia in trade value almost doubled between the first quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 due to increasing prices.
Russia was the largest provider of petroleum oils to the EU in 2021.
After Russia’s invasion, a major diversion in the trade of petroleum oil took place. Evidence of this became visible in the second and especially in the third and fourth quarters of 2022 and continued in 2023 and 2024, Eurostat said.
The share of petroleum oil imports from Russia dropped from 21 per cent in the second quarter of 2022 to one per cent in the second quarter of 2024. The shares of the United States, Kazakhstan (both +4 pp), Norway and Saudi Arabia (both +3 pp) increased in this period.
In the second quarter of 2024, both the value and volume of iron and steel imported from Russia was around a half of what it had been in the first quarter of 2021, Eurostat said.
The value of the EU’s imports of iron and steel from Russia increased by 63 pp between the first quarters of 2021 and 2022 mainly due to rising prices. Subsequently, drops in volume and value were observed because of the sanctions on several products.
Russia’s share in extra-EU imports of iron and steel dropped by 4 pp in the second quarter of 2024 compared with the second quarter of 2022 when it was still the largest import partner.
India became the largest origin for EU imports of iron and steel with a share of 12 per cent, while South Korea, the United Kingdom and Turkey also had higher shares than Russia in the second quarter of 2024, Eurostat said.
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