The Russian Ministry of Finance admitted a record deficit: expenses exceeded revenues

Russia’s federal budget is running a serious deficit for the fourth year in a row. In 2025, the gap between revenues and expenditures reached a record 5.64 trillion rubles.

This is reported by The Moscow Times, citing data from the Russian Ministry of Finance.

Compared to 2024, the deficit increased 1.6 times. At the same time, the pace of economic growth remained modest – Russia’s GDP in 2025 increased by only 2.6%, while in 2020 this figure was 3.8%.

A significant blow to the budget was the sharp decline in oil revenues. Over the year, oil and gas revenues decreased by 24%, to 8.39 trillion rubles, and the average price of Urals fell below $40 per barrel, although $70 was expected when the budget was formed.

Despite a 13% increase in non-oil and gas revenues compared to last year, they fell short of the Finance Ministry’s expectations. The government also raised the income tax from 20% to 25%, increased customs and excise duties, and introduced a differentiated personal income tax. These measures were planned to bring 3.6 trillion rubles to the budget, but in fact the increase amounted to only 575 billion (1.6%), which, taking into account inflation, means a real reduction in revenues.

The financial situation shows that even tax increases and a broadening of the revenue base have not been able to compensate for losses from oil revenues and limited economic growth.

Recall that Russian oil supplies to India in December may decrease to the lowest levels in the last three years . At the same time, imports may increase again in early 2026 after the resumption of purchases by the largest oil refining companies.

As reported, in 2026-2027, Russia plans to massively return decommissioned Soviet and foreign-made aircraft to service due to an acute shortage of aircraft fleet.

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