Spanning both Eastern Europe and Northern Asia, the Russian Federation is the largest country by land area on the face of the globe and has the sixth-richest economy in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Home to 146.2 million people, Russia is also the world’s ninth-biggest country in terms of population.

The 100 most valuable consumer products imported into Russia in 2020 attracted a subtotal US$105.3 billion worth of spending on international goods. That consumer-specific dollar amount represents 45.5% of the overall value of all goods imported into Russia. The transcontinental nation’s overall amount for imported products totaled an estimated $231.7 billion worth of spending.

Among the most valuable consumer products imported into Russia during 2020 were: phones including smartphones; automotive parts or accessories; medications; computers; and cars.

The total dollar amount for the top 100 imported consumer products decreased by -6.7% from 2019 to 2020 for the Russian Federation. Russia’s top 100 consumer metric was more severe than the -5% decline for all of Russia’s imported goods for the year.

Russia’s demand for imported consumer products fell less than the global average, which was a drop of -8.2% from 2019 to 2020 for all importing countries.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by Russia, 36 increased in total value from 2019 to 2020 whereas 74 declined.

Changes in Russian consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported 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 are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

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, 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.

Speciality 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.

Russia’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in Russia spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2019 to 2020 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

Medications: US$7,212,327,000 (down -29%)
Miscellaneous plastic items: $1,350,465,000 (up 7.7%)
Fresh or dried citrus fruit: $1,249,706,000 (down -2.4%)
Cheese, curd: $1,222,225,000 (up 7.3%)
Bananas, plantains: $1,116,769,000 (down -0.3%)
Wine : $1,092,549,000 (down -5.8%)
Processed petroleum oils: $1,036,397,000 (up 17.2%)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): $971,034,000 (down -12.5%)
Soya beans: $862,213,000 (up 8.9%)
Palm oil: $793,220,000 (up 18.7%)
Other organic cleaning preparations: $729,163,000 (up 2.9%)
Other food preparations: $711,967,000 (up 6.2%)
Frozen beef: $707,856,000 (down -12.2%)
Whole fish (frozen): $703,084,000 (down -11.7%)
Apples, pears (fresh): $677,540,000 (up 15.6%)
Coffee: $651,688,000 (up 3.2%)
Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $632,299,000 (up 1.4%)
Butter: $600,258,000 (down -5.5%)
Cherries/peaches/nectarines/plums: $549,109,000 (up 19.1%)
Chocolate, other cocoa preparations: $546,350,000 (down -6.6%)
Tomatoes: $525,128,000 (down -17.5%)
Miscellaneous fruits (fresh): $454,131,000 (down -4.5%)
Tea (including flavored): $412,245,000 (down -3.2%)
Coffee/tea extracts, concentrates: $410,818,000 (down -2.8%)
Grapes (fresh or dried): $381,772,000 (up 2.8%)
Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries: $370,783,000 (down -2.1%)
Malt beer: $369,283,000 (up 14%)
Perfumes, toilet waters: $350,971,000 (down -37.7%)
Malt extract, food preparations: $340,189,000 (down -7%)
Sunflower seeds: $332,704,000 (up 9.5%)
Concentrated/sweetened milk: $328,489,000 (down -22.6%)
Poultry meat: $320,018,000 (down -16.6%)
Coal, solid fuels made from coal: $319,110,000 (down -13.2%)
Other fresh/chilled vegetables: $317,994,000 (down -17.1%)
Crustaceans (including lobsters): $297,593,000 (up 8.8%)
Eggs in shell (bird): $290,228,000 (down -5.4%)
Dates/pineapples/mango/avocado: $287,473,000 (up 14.2%)
Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared): $285,152,000 (up 0.5%)

Convenience products led by the products listed above represent the European country’s second-most popular import product type attracting the Russian Federation’s international spending behind shopping products but ahead of speciality goods.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

Russia’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

Below, the list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in Russia spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Russian spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2019 to 2020.

Phones: US$9,363,347,000 (up 3.9%)
Automobile parts/accessories: $7,651,584,000 (down -12.6%)
Computers, optical readers: $6,267,144,000 (up 10.6%)
Cars: $5,426,679,000 (down -31.4%)
Rubber tires (new): $1,642,060,000 (down -16.6%)
Footwear (leather): $1,306,355,000 (down -20.5%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $1,283,310,000 (up 1.2%)
Electrical converters/power units: $1,262,079,000 (down -1.2%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $1,229,908,000 (down -3.7%)
Computer parts, accessories: $1,200,365,000 (up 11.6%)
Trucks: $1,198,924,000 (down -38.1%)
Miscellaneous toys: $1,173,950,000 (down -10.9%)
Insulated wire/cable: $1,119,831,000 (up 1.3%)
Tractors: $1,064,843,000 (down -19.1%)
Women’s clothing (not knit/crochet): $934,989,000 (down -14.3%)
Printing machinery: $920,603,000 (down -11.4%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $902,711,000 (down -0.2%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $897,614,000 (down -9.6%)
Microphones/headphones/amps: $871,609,000 (up 13.9%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $839,535,000 (up 9%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $830,214,000 (down -7.3%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $804,018,000 (up 327.9%)
Felt, other non-woven garments: $785,819,000 (up 680.5%)
Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet): $781,927,000 (down -11.5%)
Footwear (textile): $727,895,000 (down -9.6%)
Footwear (rubber or plastic): $712,494,000 (down -8.4%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $661,088,000 (down -14.3%)
Trailers: $659,292,000 (down -9.6%)
Orthopedic appliances: $659,058,000 (down -13%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $630,462,000 (down -4.4%)
Women’s coats (unknit/non-crochet): $542,998,000 (down -15.4%)
T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet): $528,068,000 (down -8.4%)
Men’s suits (unknit/non-crochet): $520,888,000 (down -16%)
Hot-roll iron/non-alloy steel items: $503,313,000 (down -35.3%)
Unrecorded sound media: $501,838,000 (up 9.1%)
Paints, varnishes: $492,024,000 (down -6.6%)
Hair preparations: $432,349,000 (down -8.2%)
Men’s coats (unknit/non-crochet): $419,204,000 (down -18.9%)
Sanitary towels, baby napkins: $415,401,000 (down -17.2%)
Lubricant preparations, anti-rust: $390,386,000 (down -9.8%)
Sports equipment: $389,410,000 (down -5.5%)
Other pharmaceutical preparations: $381,427,000 (down -19.3%)
Stockings, hosiery (knit or crochet): $370,142,000 (down -19.5%)
Women’s clothing (knit or crochet): $363,429,000 (down -18.2%)
Electric lamps: $324,871,000 (down -12.8%)
Vulcanized rubber apparel: $297,066,000 (up 54.1%)
Shaving preparations, deodorants: $280,412,000 (down -18.3%)
Miscellaneous aluminum items: $280,359,000 (down -20.7%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is Russia’s most popular category ahead of both convenience products and speciality items.

Shopping products approached half (48) of the overall top 100 Russian imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Russia’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among Russia’s imports that attracted the country’s spending on imported consumer goods during 2020.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2020 compared to 2019.

Temperature-change machines: US$2,870,872,000 (up 32%)
Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $1,783,340,000 (up 6.1%)
Liquid pumps: $1,534,555,000 (down -0.4%)
Household base metal mountings: $1,020,410,000 (down -1.8%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $1,015,589,000 (down -18.7%)
Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines : $905,033,000 (down -5.9%)
Electric generating sets, converters: $891,376,000 (up 2.5%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $890,019,000 (up 4.4%)
Air conditioners: $820,085,000 (down -9.8%)
Electric storage batteries: $670,622,000 (down -1.7%)
Special hand/machine tools: $610,233,000 (up 0.5%)
Vacuum cleaners: $533,223,000 (up 17.5%)
Electromechanic appliances: $422,123,000 (up 12.8%)
Washing machines: $294,795,000 (up 7.9%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 62 of Russia’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 38 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Russia’s Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into Russia that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2019 to 2020.

Felt, other non-woven garments: Up 680.5% ($785.8 million)
Miscellaneous textile items: Up 327.9% ($804 million)
Vulcanized rubber apparel, accessories: Up 54.1% ($297.1 million)
Temperature-change machines: Up 32% ($2.9 billion)
Cherries/peaches/nectarines/plums: Up 19.1% ($549.1 million)
Palm oil: Up 18.7% ($793.2 million)
Vacuum cleaners: Up 17.5% ($533.2 million)
Processed petroleum oils: Up 17.2% ($1 billion)
Fresh apples, pears: Up 15.6% ($677.5 million)
Dates, pineapples, mangos, avocados: Up 14.2% ($287.5 million)

Among the above top 10 gainers, half qualify as durable goods that consumers can re-use over time. Three of those durable items with accelerating sales to importers in Russia are shopping products specifically garments made from felt or other non-woven materials, miscellaneous textile items, and vulcanized rubber apparel or accessories. The 2 speciality items are temperature-change items and vacuum cleaners.

The fastest-growing 5 convenience products imported into Russia are cherries, peaches, nectarines and plums; palm oil; processed petroleum oils; fresh apples or pears; and dates, pineapples, mangos or avocados. Consumers consider these items as non-durable products, commonly referred to as disposable goods that normally are used only once.

Russia’s Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

Spending by import buyers in Russia on the following 10 items decreased in value at the severest rate from 2019 to 2020.

Trucks: Down -38.1% ($1.2 billion)
Perfumes, toilet waters: Down -37.7% ($351 million)
Items made from hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel: Down -35.3% ($503.3 million)
Cars: Down -31.4% ($5.4 billion)
Medications: Down -29% ($7.2 billion)
Concentrated or sweetened milk and cream: Down -22.6% ($328.5 million)
Miscellaneous items made from aluminum: Down -20.7% ($280.4 million)
Leather footwear: Down -20.5% ($1.3 billion)
Knitted or crocheted stockings, hosier: Down -19.5% ($370.1 million)
Miscellaneous pharmaceutical preparations: Down -19.3% ($381.4 million)

Three among Russia’s top 10 severest decliners are non-durable convenience products consumed one time. Those imports are perfumes and toilet waters, medications and concentrated or sweetened milk and cream.

The remaining 7 major import decliners are shopping products that normally require more time for consumers to make buying decisions. Purchases under the shopping products category are more likely to be deferred than convenience products. Examples of these shopping goods range from trucks and cars to leather footwear and knitted or crocheted stockings or hosiery.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target demand for 5 of Russia’s top consumer import products.

Russia’s biggest imported consumer product by value is phones. The other 4 leading consumer goods imported into Russia are automotive parts or accessories, medications, computers, and cars.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for Russia’s imported:

Phones: China (69.5% of total), Vietnam (13.7%), India (2.9%), Poland (1.3%), Czech Republic (1.3%), Taiwan (also 1.3%), Malaysia (1.2%), Estonia (1%), Israel (0.9%), and the United States (also 0.9%).

Automotive parts or accessories: Germany (15.8% of total), China (15%), South Korea (13.6%), Japan (13.3%), Czech Republic (6.7%), United States (4.4%), Turkey (3.4%), Belarus (also 3.4%), Romania (3.2%), and Poland (2.4%).

Medications: Germany (20% of total), Italy (9.4%), United States (7.6%), India (6.7%), Switzerland (6.5%), France (6.1%), Ireland (5%), United Kingdom (3%), Slovenia (2.9%), and Belarus (2.8%).

Computers: China (66.2% of total), Czech Republic (5.3%), Poland (4.5%), Thailand (4.1%), Hungary (4%), Taiwan (3%), United States (1.9%), Vietnam (1.5%), Netherlands (1.2%), and Germany (0.9%).

Cars: Japan (24% of total), United States (17.3%), Germany (15.4%), Slovakia (8.1%), United Kingdom (7%), China (5.7%), Austria (4.3%), Belarus (3.8%), Mexico (3.4%), and Hungary (2.5%).

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Russia Economy.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP.

Trading Economics, Russia Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

Wikipedia, Russia.

World’s Top Exports, Russia’s Top 10 Imports.