In the first half of 2026, trade between Russia and the European Union countries decreased to €26.9 billion, a 13% year-on-year reduction. This is the lowest figure for any six-month period since the first half of 1999. Due to EU sanctions, purchases of Russian oil, gas, metals, and fertilizers continue to decline, as do supplies of European goods to Russia.
From January to June 2026, Russia exported €12.2 billion worth of goods to the EU, while imports from the EU to Russia amounted to €14.8 billion. As a result, Brussels recorded a positive trade balance with Russia for the second consecutive half-year, amounting to €2.6 billion, whereas previously Europe traditionally had a trade deficit with Russia.
In the first half of 2026, the main exported product from Russia to the EU remained gas. The value of supplies decreased by 3% year-on-year to €7.4 billion. Oil purchases fell by more than half to €1.3 billion. Imports of ferrous metals decreased by almost half to €715.4 million, nickel supplies decreased by 9% to €426 million, and fertilizer supplies fell nearly fivefold to €298 million.
At the same time, supplies of some small product groups increased. The import of tobacco and raw materials for tobacco products from Russia to the EU increased thirteenfold to €5 million, while supplies of books and other printed products grew by more than a quarter to €11 million.
Exports from the EU to Russia also decreased across most product groups. If in the first half of 2022, supplies of vehicles from Europe to Russia amounted to €2 billion, then in 2026 this figure decreased to €81 million. Exports of machinery and equipment, as well as electronics, fell from €1.8 billion to €171 million.
The largest group of goods imported from the EU to Russia is now pharmaceutical products unaffected by sanctions. Their import increased by 21% to €5.7 billion. The import of cosmetics and skin care products decreased by 4% to €236 million, while the import of wine increased by 2% to €225 million.
Russia's largest trading partners in the EU in the first half of the year were Germany with a trade turnover of €3.8 billion and France with €2.9 billion. Belgium, with a figure of €2.8 billion, rose to third place. The top five also included the Netherlands with €2.6 billion and Hungary with €2.1 billion.
