Some things are perennial in Russia: Vladimir Putin is set for his fifth term as president after receiving 87% of the vote. Energy still dominates Russian exports. But an important aspect of the nation’s economy has changed profoundly since the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s major trade partners have radically shifted from west to east. After western sanctions and the destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, China, India and (to a lesser extent) Turkey have become the most important nations for export shipments. The Commonwealth of Independent States, i.e. the nations in the former Soviet space, has also increased its share.

Our two “tree maps” comparing export destinations in the first 11 months of 2023 to the same period two years earlier include nations that took about 85% of Russia’s exports as of 2021.

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That’s according to Russian figures. Since then, the country has stopped publishing breakdowns of foreign trade by nation or sector. As a result, the data in the more recent charts is sourced from the International Monetary Fund and nations that report imports of Russian goods. It’s unclear whether Russia is still the biggest energy exporter in the world, as it was prior to 2022.

As the stacked chart indicates, China increased its imports from Russia by 66% over this two-year time frame. For India, the growth is staggering – surpassing 600%.

And as the final charts show: the UK, Canada and Sweden are notable for reducing their imports from Russia by almost 99%, while on a year-on-year basis, Russian exports have been falling every month since late 2022.

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