Russia's GDP grew 5.9%, production output increased 4%, and inflation hit 8.6%, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry said Wednesday.
In September 2005, GDP grew 6.6%, the production index 5.2%, and consumer prices 0.3%.
Industrial producer prices increased 2.8% in September and 15.7% in the first nine months of the year, compared with 24% in the same period last year.
According to the ministry's figures, fixed capital investment in September expanded 10.7% year on year and 9.9% in January-September 2005. Real wages grew by an estimated 11.7% in September and by 8.7% in January-September.
Household real money income grew even faster - 15.4% in September and 9.3% in the first nine months of 2005.
Russia's foreign trade reached $264 billion in January-September 2005 with a trade surplus of $92.8 billion, the ministry said.
In September, Russia's exports totaled $23 billion and imports, $10.3 billion. In January-September, exports totaled $178.4 billion and imports, $85.6 billion.
The growth of import volumes slowed in the reporting period year on year (17.1% compared with 23% last year). "But imports continue to meet more than half of domestic demand growth, although their share dropped to 51.2% from 59.7% in January-September 2004," the ministry said.
"Domestic demand for imports continues to be highly elastic, suggesting that a preference for imports is persisting due to growing household and corporate incomes and the lower quality of domestic output (particularly, in transportation vehicle and equipment manufacturing)," the ministry said.
