Gross domestic product (GDP) only grew by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2025 – a notable decline from 4.5% growth in the previous quarter and 5.4% in the same period last year, the Moscow Times reported, citing Rosstat data.
The latest data from Rosstat came in below expectations: the Russian Economic Development Ministry estimated GDP growth at 1.7% and Bloomberg analysts predicted 1.8% growth.
They are spending shitloads of money on weapons that immediately get blown up, this pushes up GDP figures. What doesn’t go up is productive work/investments that further the interest of the people of the nation, investments that would continue to reap rewards in the future.
Obviously this isn’t to say that all military spending is bad, far from it, but Russia is dumping piles money into a war they started and never needed to happen. They aren’t defending themselves from some threat, they are simply burning money and resources.
I think the key to understanding the context is that GDP is a flow, not any kind of accumulation.
If Person A earns $100,000 this year, gets a 4% raise every year, will they be richer or poorer than Person B who earns $120,000 and gets a 5% raise every year, after 10 years? We have no idea, because we don’t know from the question what their starting wealth was, how much they save or spend, whether the stuff they buy retains its value or appreciates or depreciates, etc.
So Russia can have growing GDP, but can still be running its economy into the ground if the stuff they’re producing is getting destroyed, or has no lasting value.