Soviet economy
DniproHES hydro-electric power plant, one of the symbols of Soviet economic power, was completed in 1932.
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| Currency | Soviet ruble (SUR) |
|---|---|
| 1 January – 31 December (calendar year) | |
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Trade organisations
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Comecon, ESCAP and others |
| Statistics | |
| GDP | $820 billion in 1977 (Nominal; 2nd) $1.212 trillion in 1980 (Nominal; 2nd) $1.57 trillion in 1982 (Nominal; 2nd) $2.2 trillion in 1985 (Nominal; 2nd) $2.6595 trillion (1989 est.) (GNP; 2nd) |
| GDP rank | 3rd (Nominal) / 2nd ([[GNP]]) (1989 est.) |
|
GDP per capita
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$5,800 (1982 est.) (Nominal; 32nd) $9,211 (1991 est.) (GNP; 28rd) |
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GDP by sector
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agriculture: (1–2%, 1991), industry: (–2.4%, 1991)(1991 est.) |
| 14% (43rd) (1991) | |
| 0.290 (1980 est.), 0.275 (1989 est.) | |
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Labour force
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152.3 million (3rd) (1989 est.) |
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Labour force by occupation
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80% in industry and other non-agricultural sectors; 20% in agriculture; shortage of skilled labor (1989 est.) |
| Unemployment | 1–2% |
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Main industries
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petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, heavy industries, electronics, food processing, lumber, mining, and the defense (1989 est.) |
| External | |
| Exports | $110.7 billion (9th) (1989 est.) |
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Export goods
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petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a wide variety of manufactured goods (1989 est.) |
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Main export partners
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Eastern Bloc 49%, European Community 14%, Cuba 5%, US, Afghanistan (1988) |
| Imports | $114.7 billion (10th) (1989 est.) |
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Import goods
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grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer manufactures |
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Main import partners
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Eastern Bloc 54%, European Community 11%, Cuba, China, US (1988 est.) |
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Gross external debt
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$55 billion (11th) (1989 est.) $27.3 billion (1988 est.) |
| Public finances | |
| Revenues | $422 billion (5th) (1990 est.) |
| Expenses | $510 billion (1989 est.) 53 million (2nd, capital expenditures) (1991 est.) |
| Economic aid | $147.6 billion (1954–88) |
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All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars. |
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The economy of the Soviet Union was based on a system of state ownership of the means of production, collective farming, industrial manufacturing and centralized administrative planning. The economy was characterised by state control of investment, public ownership of industrial assets, macroeconomic stability, negligible unemployment and high job security.
Beginning in 1928, the entire course of the economy was guided by a series of Five-Year Plans. By the 1950s, the Soviet Union had, during the preceding few decades, evolved from a mainly agrarian society into a major industrial power. Its transformative capacity—what the US National Security Council described as a "proven ability to carry backward countries speedily through the crisis of modernization and industrialization"—meant communism consistently appealed to the intellectuals of developing countries in Asia. Impressive growth rates during the first three Five-Year Plans (1928–40) are particularly notable given that this period is nearly congruent with the Great Depression. During this period the Soviet Union encountered a rapid industrial growth while other regions were suffering from crisis. Nevertheless, the impoverished base upon which the Five-Year Plans sought to build meant that, at the commencement of Operation Barbarossa, the country was still poor. While legitimate strictly in terms of growth and industrialisation, the death toll attributable to Stalinist economic development has been estimated at 10 million, much of which comprises famine victims.
The major strength of the Soviet economy was its enormous supply of oil and gas, which became much more valuable as exports after the world price of oil skyrocketed in the 1970s. As Daniel Yergin notes, the Soviet economy in its final decades was "heavily dependent on vast natural resources–oil and gas in particular." However, Yergin goes on, world oil prices collapsed in 1986, putting very heavy pressure on the economy. After Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985, he began a process of economic liberalisation towards a mixed economy. At its dissolution at the end of 1991, the Soviet Union begat a Russian Federation with a growing pile of $66 billion in external debt, and with barely a few billion dollars in net gold and foreign exchange reserves.
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