by Huileng Tan at Business Insider
- Russia’s economy, boosted by military activity, is now classified as high-income by the World Bank.
- Russia’s GDP grew 3.6% in 2023, with trade and financial sectors rebounding.
- The World Bank also upgraded Bulgaria and Palau, while the West Bank and Gaza were downgraded.
Russia’s economy has defied sanctions in the two years since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022 — so much so that the World Bank is now classifying Russia as a “high-income country.”
On Monday, the World Bank announced it has upgraded Russia from an upper-middle-income country to a high-income country, according to a report from the financial institution’s economists.
“Economic activity in Russia was influenced by a large increase in military-related activity in 2023,” World Bank economists wrote in their report.
Last year, Russians earned $14,250 per person on a gross national income basis.
The World Bank’s upgrade confirms reports from Russia that suggest the growth is primarily driven by wartime activities that generate demand for military goods and services, making some sectors winners in Russia’s wartime economy…
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