STATEC: Russia Accounts for 1.7% of Luxembourg Trade in Goods, Services

According to a new report by STATEC, the national statistical institute of Luxembourg, Russia Accounted for 1.7% of the Grand Duchy's trade in goods and services in 2020.

The war in Ukraine and the European Union's (EU) sanctions against Russia have drawn attention to the importance of trade in goods and services with Luxembourg.  According to international trade in goods statistics (goods crossing the border) and balance of payments statistics (goods and services based on change of ownership), economic relations with Russia are not very significant in terms of value, according to STATEC. 

Exports of goods to Russia represented 0.9% while imports represented 0.1% of the total amount in 2020. At the level of the balance of payments, the relative share of credits and debits for goods and services respectively was 1.7% and 1.1% that same year. STATEC noted that goods of Russian origin imported via a third party are counted as exchange with this third country and not as an import from Russia. This applies in particular to natural gas for which it is considered impossible to obtain reliable information on the country of origin in the context of these statistics.

Considering the international trade in goods with Russia, STATEC noted that exports to Russia (€112 million) significantly exceeded imports from Russia (€24 million) during the last year for which complete data is available. Luxembourg's trade balance with Russia was thus largely positive at €88 million.

An analysis in terms of the country of origin of goods was more difficult due to the lack of reliable figures. However, STATEC noted that it was reasonable to assume that in terms of country of origin, the trade situation with Russia was less favourable.

Moreover, the amounts increased in terms of the balance of payments. The relative share in trade is also increasing while remaining relatively low. 

Exports of goods and services with Russia amounted to almost €600 million, while imports were almost half that amount, at €320 million. The balance is therefore largely positive for Luxembourg.

STATEC concluded that the relative share of trade with Russia compared to total trade in goods and services was very low, with 1.7% of exports and 1.1% of imports.