World Bank Returned Russia to the High-Income Country Category

The last time Russia was in this category was in 2014. The World Bank classifies the world's economies into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. Classifications are updated annually based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. Since the late 1980s, the classification of countries by income categories has undergone significant changes — in 1987, 30% of countries were classified as low-income, and 25% as high-income. In 2023, these figures changed to 12% and 40%, respectively. However, the scale and direction of these changes vary greatly across different regions of the world.

This year, three countries moved from the upper-middle-income category to the high-income category — Bulgaria, Palau, and Russia. The last time the Russian Federation was in this list was between 2012 and 2014. The World Bank explains these changes by the significant growth of economic activity in the military-industrial sector, as well as the revival of trade (+68%), the financial sector (+87%), and construction (+66%). These factors led to an increase in both real GDP (+36%) and nominal GDP (+109%), and Russia's GNI per capita increased by 112%, reaching $14,250, which exceeds the established threshold of $14,005.

Although in 2022 Russia was classified as an upper-middle-income country with a GNI per capita of $12,830, the mobilization of the economy, including despite the sanctions, and the increase in military spending led the country to growth. The state found a way to advance through import substitution and internal development, as well as by reorienting trade to the Global South countries. Despite the trade and financial restrictions imposed, even authoritative global institutions are forced to recognize Russia's successes. At the same time, our country has been in the top 4 world economies by purchasing power parity since 2021.