Russia’s trade surplus widens $110 Billion for H1 2008.

The Russian Federal Customs Service has released trade data showing that Russia’s trade surplus has increased to $110 Billion for the first half of 2008, as energy exports continue to boom.

The figures show that the trade surplus with the CIS came in at $17.8 Billion, and the trade surplus with the rest of the world was $92.3 Billion, as foreign trade turnover increase by 50.2% YoY to $359.6 Billion – up 47% to $54.2 Billion with the CIS and up 50.8% to $305.4 Billion with the rest of the world.

Russian exports increased overall by 46.9% to $234.9 Billion, with imports also rising by 46.9% to $124.7 Billion.

The biggest contributor to the trade surplus was Fuel and Energy.  It accounted for 44.1% of exports to the CIS, up 6% from the previous year, and 73.1% of exports to the rest of the world, up 6.3% from the previous year.