That dollar amount specific to consumer-targeted exports represents 35% of the overall value of all Russian exported goods ($491.6 billion).
The 5 most valuable consumer end-use goods shipped by Russia onto global markets during 2021 were exported refined petroleum oils, coal including solid fuels made from coal, gold, petroleum gases, then items made from hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel. Combined, those 5 leading exports collected 35% of Russia’s total revenues collected from selling all its exports on global markets.
The total dollar amount for Russia’s top 100 exported consumer products increased by 36.9% from 2020 to 2021 and expanded by 44.7% since 2017.
Russia’s overall shipments of all its exported products–encompassing raw materials, intermediate products as well as those classified as consumer goods–grew at a slightly faster pace. Total Russian exports increased in value by 45.8% compared to 2020 and by 37.7% over the 5-year period starting in 2017.
Among the top 100 consumer products exported by the Russian Federation, 90 generated more revenues from in 2021 compared to 2020. The fastest cashflow increases belong to Russian exports of trailers (up 258.6%), frozen beef (up 157.9%), items made from hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel (up 108.5%), computers including optical readers (up 104.6%) then dried shelled vegetables (up 100.7%).
Another 10 Russian consumer exports declined year over year. The worst decliners were Russian export sales of sugar (down -43.9%), electric motors excluding generating sets (down -22.4%), moluscs (down -18.7%), perfumes and toilet waters (down 12.2%), and printed books or brochures (down -9.2%).
Exported Consumer Products Defined
So, what are consumer products? They are final goods or end products that a business mainly creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while exported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.
Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets or cruise ships are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets or cruise ships are usually purchased by corporations or government agencies. In contrast, it is common for consumers to buy motorcycles.
Admittedly there are some grey areas. For example, business and government entities buy exported gold as do consumers. On the other hand, generally fewer consumers buy platinum exports.
Types of Consumer Products
This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types for the exports reviewed in the article.
Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.
Shopping Products are not as easily available as convenience products, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.
Specialty Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.
US Top 100 Most Valuable Consumer Exports
The searchable international sales database below showcases Russia’s 100 highest value exported consumer products in descending order. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level.
The table’s fifth column identifies each entry’s consumer product type.
The most popular Russian product type is convenience products (CP) led by refined petroleum oils, coal including solid fuels made from coal, petroleum gas, sunflower or safflower or cotton-seed oil, then lobsters and other crustaceans. Convenience products represent one-half (50) of Russia’s top 100 exported consumer goods.
In second place via 31 entries are shopping products (SP) led by items made from hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel, cars, new rubber tires, automobile parts or accessories, then insulated wire or cable.
Then there is the speciality products (SY) category with its 19 entries. Examples of major speciality products are Russian exports of gold, fertilizer mixes, diamonds, nitrogenous fertilizers, potassic fertilizers, and silver.
| # | Exported Product | US$ | 2020-1 | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Processed petroleum oils | $69,936,820,000 | +54.2% | CP |
| 2 | Coal, solid fuels made from coal | $17,560,283,000 | +41.7% | CP |
| 3 | Gold (unwrought) | $17,362,390,000 | -6.3% | SY |
| 4 | Petroleum gas | $8,814,840,000 | +12.4% | CP |
| 5 | Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items | $5,307,219,000 | +108.5% | SP |
| 6 | Fertilizer mixes | $4,692,133,000 | +71.8% | SY |
| 7 | Diamonds (unmounted/unset) | $4,541,353,000 | +39.9% | SY |
| 8 | Nitrogenous fertilizers | $4,468,582,000 | +79.9% | SY |
| 9 | Potassic fertilizers | $3,320,910,000 | +86.9% | SY |
| 10 | Sun/safflower/cotton-seed oil | $3,094,339,000 | +25.2% | CP |
| 11 | Crustaceans (including lobsters) | $2,663,938,000 | +59.2% | CP |
| 12 | Whole fish (frozen) | $2,407,817,000 | +1.7% | CP |
| 13 | Cars | $1,395,757,000 | +41.4% | SP |
| 14 | Rubber tires (new) | $1,352,453,000 | +21.8% | SP |
| 15 | Barley | $965,954,000 | +7.5% | CP |
| 16 | Chocolate, other cocoa preparations | $863,725,000 | +18.5% | CP |
| 17 | Medications | $809,288,000 | +16.8% | CP |
| 18 | Automobile parts/accessories | $761,190,000 | +35.8% | SP |
| 19 | Silver (unwrought) | $743,099,000 | +76.5% | SY |
| 20 | Corn | $693,383,000 | +75.4% | CP |
| 21 | Dried shelled vegetables | $639,408,000 | +100.7% | CP |
| 22 | Fish fillets, pieces | $612,927,000 | +44.6% | CP |
| 23 | Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries | $555,957,000 | +23.6% | CP |
| 24 | Insulated wire/cable | $541,617,000 | +36.2% | SP |
| 25 | Poultry meat | $537,985,000 | +25.9% | CP |
| 26 | Soya-bean oil | $532,220,000 | +20.1% | CP |
| 27 | Fuel wood, wood chips, sawdust | $487,083,000 | +0.4% | CP |
| 28 | Refrigerators, freezers | $484,534,000 | +31.5% | SY |
| 29 | Miscellaneous furniture | $483,003,000 | +39% | SP |
| 30 | Liquid pumps | $471,114,000 | +22.6% | SY |
| 31 | Phone devices including smartphones | $467,274,000 | +27.9% | SP |
| 32 | Temperature-change machines | $432,204,000 | -6% | SY |
| 33 | Margarine | $414,295,000 | +80.8% | CP |
| 34 | Soya beans | $407,712,000 | -1.8% | CP |
| 35 | Computers, optical readers | $399,680,000 | +104.6% | SP |
| 36 | Washing machines | $397,144,000 | +21.1% | SY |
| 37 | Miscellaneous food preparations | $395,330,000 | +34.2% | CP |
| 38 | Other organic cleaning preparations | $385,926,000 | +15.5% | CP |
| 39 | Miscellaneous iron or steel items | $361,277,000 | +53.4% | SP |
| 40 | Printed books, brochures | $358,973,000 | -9.2% | SP |
| 41 | Pipe/chewing/snuff tobaccos | $358,760,000 | +13.4% | CP |
| 42 | Trucks | $355,603,000 | +17.3% | SP |
| 43 | Waters with added sugar | $348,907,000 | +60.5% | CP |
| 44 | Electric water heaters, hair dryers | $319,943,000 | +40.6% | SY |
| 45 | Swine meat | $319,621,000 | +20.6% | CP |
| 46 | Plastic packing goods, lids, caps | $308,937,000 | +35.5% | CP |
| 47 | Sanitary towels, baby napkins/liners | $297,158,000 | +21.6% | CP |
| 48 | Uncoated paper for writing/printing | $294,213,000 | -3.9% | CP |
| 49 | Electric motors, not generating sets | $269,804,000 | -22.4% | SY |
| 50 | Liquid crystal/laser/optical tools | $268,517,000 | +18% | SY |
| 51 | Electrical converters/power units | $264,870,000 | +50.7% | SP |
| 52 | Hair preparations | $262,514,000 | +14.7% | SP |
| 53 | Paper containers, cellulose wadding | $262,123,000 | +37.2% | SP |
| 54 | Sugar (cane or beet) | $258,820,000 | -43.9% | CP |
| 55 | Beauty/makeup/skin care | $255,353,000 | +0.5% | SY |
| 56 | Unrecorded sound media | $249,966,000 | -3.9% | SP |
| 57 | Shaving preparations, deodorants | $249,830,000 | +43.9% | SP |
| 58 | Coffee/tea extracts, concentrates | $248,117,000 | +25.4% | CP |
| 59 | Glass bottles, other containers | $238,201,000 | +18.8% | SP |
| 60 | Packaged insecticides, herbicides | $233,122,000 | +16.4% | SP |
| 61 | Sauces, condiments, seasoning | $223,241,000 | +34.8% | CP |
| 62 | Malt extract, food preparations | $209,627,000 | +26.8% | CP |
| 63 | Sugar confectionery (no cocoa) | $209,374,000 | +17.2% | CP |
| 64 | Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes | $202,928,000 | +3.7% | CP |
| 65 | Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs) | $202,767,000 | +20.4% | CP |
| 66 | Lower-voltage switches, fuses | $202,746,000 | +23.6% | SP |
| 67 | Trailers | $193,303,000 | +258.6% | SP |
| 68 | Frozen beef | $191,736,000 | +157.9% | CP |
| 69 | Prepared vegetables (non-frozen) | $181,552,000 | +20.1% | CP |
| 70 | Miscellaneous plastic items | $177,549,000 | +26.8% | CP |
| 71 | Miscellaneous preserved fruits | $172,070,000 | +13.1% | CP |
| 72 | Malt beer | $160,993,000 | +23.4% | CP |
| 73 | Tractors | $155,892,000 | +88% | SP |
| 74 | Fish or meat flours, pellets | $145,640,000 | +31.7% | CP |
| 75 | Soap, organic surface-active goods | $144,589,000 | +3.5% | SP |
| 76 | Jewelry | $142,675,000 | +58.4% | SY |
| 77 | Seats (not barber/dentist chairs) | $138,887,000 | +62% | SP |
| 78 | Miscellaneous toys | $137,442,000 | +30.1% | SP |
| 79 | Paints, varnishes | $135,252,000 | +25.5% | SP |
| 80 | Sausages, similar goods | $126,330,000 | +36.1% | CP |
| 81 | Prefabricated buildings | $126,102,000 | +60.2% | SY |
| 82 | Cheese, curd | $125,538,000 | +30.8% | CP |
| 83 | Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins | $117,282,000 | +27.9% | SP |
| 84 | Tea (including flavored) | $115,011,000 | +9.1% | CP |
| 85 | Pasta, couscous | $113,922,000 | +11.9% | CP |
| 86 | Household base metal mountings | $105,972,000 | +33.3% | SY |
| 87 | Vulcanized rubber items | $103,393,000 | +24.2% | SP |
| 88 | Tissues, napkins, toilet paper | $101,975,000 | +6.5% | CP |
| 89 | Buttermilk, yogurt | $95,947,000 | +16.2% | CP |
| 90 | Footwear (leather) | $93,630,000 | +3.2% | SP |
| 91 | Moluscs | $90,838,000 | -18.7% | CP |
| 92 | Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared) | $90,775,000 | +22.5% | CP |
| 93 | Electric storage batteries | $86,590,000 | +21% | SY |
| 94 | Plastic tile or roll coverings | $85,237,000 | +10.3% | SP |
| 95 | Special hand/machine tools | $81,610,000 | +22.5% | SY |
| 96 | Miscellaneous aluminum items | $81,317,000 | +36.4% | SP |
| 97 | Perfumes, toilet waters | $80,635,000 | -12.2% | CP |
| 98 | Miscellaneous wooden articles | $80,142,000 | +17.6% | SP |
| 99 | Oral/dental hygiene preparations | $78,075,000 | +13.2% | CP |
| 100 | Plastic wares (table, kitchen, toiletry) | $77,347,000 | +24.1% | CP |
Durable consumer products (D) are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again.
Non-durable consumer products (ND) are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods.
Based on the product types identified in the above table, half of Russia’s 100 highest-value consumer exported products are durable while the remaining 50 are classified as non-durable.
You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2020 to 2021. To do so, click on the heading of the fourth column.
Fastest-Growing Russian Consumer Exports
Listed below are the top 10 consumer products shipped by Russia that benefited from the highest percentage increases in global sales from 2020 to 2021.
- Trailers: Up 258.6% ($193.3 million)
- Frozen beef: Up 157.9% ($191.7 million)
- Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: Up 108.5% ($5.3 billion)
- Computers, optical readers: Up 104.6% ($399.7 million)
- Dried shelled vegetables: Up 100.7% ($639.4 million)
- Tractors: Up 88% ($155.9 million)
- Potassic fertilizers: Up 86.9% ($3.3 billion)
- Margarine: Up 80.8% ($414.3 million)
- Nitrogenous fertilizers: Up 79.9% ($4.5 billion)
- Silver (unwrought): Up 76.5% ($743.1 million)
Four of the above items are durable shopping products that consumers use repeatedly over time and generally take longer to make a buying decision. These products were trailers, items made from hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel, computers, and tractors.
In contrast, 3 of these exports are convenience products (frozen beef, dried shelled vegetables, margarine) that are consumed at once with no re-use. Another 3 leading gainers (potassic fertilizers, nitrogenous fertilizers, unwrought silver) are specialty products.
Severest-Declining Russian Consumer Exports
Among the top 100 Russian exports, Russia’s spending on the following 10 items resulted in the decliners from 2020 to 2021.
- Sugar: Down -43.9% ($258.8 million)
- Electric motors excluding generating sets: Down -22.4% ($269.8 million)
- Moluscs: Down -18.7% ($90.8 million)
- Perfumes, toilet waters: Down -12.2% ($80.6 million)
- Printed books, brochures: Down -9.2% ($359 million)
- Gold (unwrought): Down -6.3% ($17.4s billion)
- Temperature-change machines: Down -6% ($432.2 million)
- Unrecorded sound media: Down -3.9% ($250 million)
- Uncoated paper for writing/printing: Down -3.9% ($294.2 million)
- Soya beans: Down -1.8% ($407.7 million)
Five among the above Russian export goods making the list of year-over-year losers are also convenience products that are used one time only.
Three of the remaining decliners are speciality products (temperature-change machines, gold, and electric motors excluding generating sets). The other 2 are shopping products (unrecorded sound media, printed books or brochures).
Key Customers for Russian Exports by Country
This analysis reveals competitive buyers that provide major demand for Russia’s top 5 consumer export products.
The biggest Russian imported consumer product by value is refined petroleum oils. Russia’s 4 other leading consumer exports are coal, gold, petroleum gases, and items made from hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel.
Here are the main international customers for
Russia’s exported refined petroleum oils: Netherlands (20.9% of total), United States (7.5%), mainland China (5.6%), Turkey (5.4%), South Korea (4.4%), Germany (3.4%), France (3.2%), Malta (also 3.2%), Belgium (3.1%), and Greece (3%).
Russia’s exported coal and related products: mainland China (22.1% of total), Japan (12.2%), South Korea (9.8%), Ukraine (6.8%), Netherlands (6.3%), Taiwan (5.8%), Turkey (4.9%), Poland (3.2%), Germany (3.1%), and India (2.8%).
Russia’s exported gold: United Kingdom (88.7% of total), Switzerland (2.4%), Kazakhstan (2.1%), India (1.8%), Germany (also 1.8%), Belarus (1.2%), Turkey (0.7%), Hong Kong (0.5%), United Arab Emirates (0.4%), and Armenia (0.3%).
Russia’s exported petroleum gases: Japan (19.8% of total), mainland China (15.8%), France (10.2%), Poland (7.4%), Spain (6.7%), South Korea (6.2%), United Kingdom (5.5%), Netherlands (4.6%), Belgium (4.5%), and Ukraine (4.4%).
Russia’s exported items made from iron or non-alloy steel: Turkey (22.4% of total), Poland (9.8%), Vietnam (8.4%), Italy (5.9%), Uzbekistan (5.5%), Belarus (5.3%), Belgium (4.6%), Netherlands (4%), Kazakhstan (3.6%), and Latvia (3.5%).
Based on the above lists, Russia appears to have a diversified portfolio of number one customers given that each of Russia’s 5 most valuable consumer products.
See also Russia’s Top 10 Imports, Russia’s Top 10 Exports, Top Russian Trade Balances and Russia’s Top 10 Major Export Companies
Research Sources:
Independent insights and analysis presented in this article were based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.
BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition. Accessed on April 17, 2022
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Russia Economy. Accessed on April 17, 2022
Imported Consumer Products, 100 Best Consumer Goods for Selling to Importers in Russia. Accessed on April 17, 2022
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 17, 2022
Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). Accessed on April 17, 2022
Trading Economics, Russia Consumer Spending. Accessed on April 17, 2022
Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets. Accessed on April 17, 2022
