However, the Soviet Union, officially Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, is now a defunct government that split into the Russian Federation and several other small countries. WDI Tables. A chart with growth rates for the Soviet Union and the Former Soviet Union (basically, Russia). There's data for that. We can also take another year, like 1950, to avoid WWII effects, and use indexed data, but this doesn't change the picture much. raw production (cars, potatoes, sewing machines, etc. In the 1950s, however, Easterly & Fischer do find that the Soviet system performed well in terms of growth. The Soviet Union represented 20% of the world's economy in 1966 (highest point) and at the year of its dissolution (1991) only produced 7.58% of the world's economy (lowest point). DataBank. "Technological Modernisation in the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia: Practices and Continuities. Title: THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SOVIET MILITARY SPENDING (ER IR 75-3) Keywords: SOVIET ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, tgdnotsu Created Date: 8/31/2010 1:49:19 AM So it's dubious that such growth rates could have continued indefinitely. You can't measure GDP in a non-market economy, by definition they're not using the prie mechanism to determine production, so you can't just invent one to quantify their GDP - that would make you a central planner just as much as the people that ran the Communist economies. The question would then be to explain why did it grow so fast, why did it stagnate, and why Cheremukhin, Golosov et al. Hong Kong tells roughly the same story as Singapore: that you can be really poor and grow rich with adequate institutions and capitalism. Could you explain me how did you estimate the hypothetical trajectories of economic growth for each government showed in the last chart? Meaning that the economic system itself reduced growth in -2.34 points. Next, I consider the period 1928-1989 and 1928-1991. I made a few more plots to complement the ones there, including some sensitivity analysis for […]. (2002, March). Yet another way of looking at this is  expressing GDP per capita as a fraction of US GDP per capita. Hitler said of the war with the Soviet Union that "the world will hold its breath." We will review lots of papers in this post, so we need not worry about this. Soviet-type economic planning (STP) is the specific model of centralized planning employed by Marxist–Leninist socialist states modeled on the economy of the Soviet Union. Presidential Studies Quarterly,27(3), 451-466. The Nazi-Soviet Pact certainly neutralized the economic weight of the USSR and it may have been interpreted as a German/Austrian alliance with the Soviet Union. Soviet Union - Soviet Union - Economic policy: The economic stagnation of the late Brezhnev era was the result of various factors: the exhaustion of easily available resources, especially raw materials, and the growing structural imbalance of the economy due to the distorting effects of the incentive system, which paralyzed initiative and dissuaded people from doing an honest day’s work. Top 15 Former Soviet Union Countries by GDP Per Capita Ranking History [1995-2017] ... poland can into soviet union? In 1952, the Soviet Union was only behind Ireland and Western Europe as a whole. Did Stalin help industrialise Russia? GDP, PPP (constant 2017 international $) GDP (current LCU) GDP, PPP (current international $) GDP per capita growth (annual %) Download. Geopolitical policies (such as over-investment in the military over quality of life or over-investment in supporting foreign states and trying to sell the brand) greatly if not overwhelmingly impact a state's economic performance. This is not necessarily bad: it means people can enjoy more things, but it means they will enjoy less things in the future than otherwise they would have. GDP, PPP (constant 2017 international $) GDP (current LCU) GDP, PPP (current international $) GDP per capita growth (annual %) Download. "The Soviet Union after 1945: Economic Recovery and Political Repression,", Ofer, Gur. WDI Tables. To estimate, compare, distinguish, discuss, and trace to its principal sources everything, Cheremukhin, Golosov,Guriev, and Tsyvinski (2013), Three most interesting articles of the day (May 31) | BAIL: Bay Area International Link, The Soviet Union: Productive Efficiency | Nintil, Annual reviews and other Soviet business practices – Money, Power, and Culture, The Soviet Series: From farm to factory. But it is hard to view the economics of a state in a vacuum affected only be economic policies of that state. Selected Countries and … LESS Citation. (1960-1986) Education of Higher & Secondary Education (1963-1987) Industrial Output of Electricity, Iron Ore, Mineral Fertilizers, etc. However, with French GDP included in the Axis tally, the ratio was 1.01. To finish, the Stalin question. I'm wondering if there are actually any sources available which let you calculate and compare actual (as in, not distorted by the government) NMP numbers for both sides of the Iron Curtain (plus the USA); I'm curious to see how the West matches up with the East at their own game. Lots of charts. (1960-1986) Education of Higher & Secondary Education (1963-1987) Industrial Output of Electricity, Iron Ore, Mineral Fertilizers, etc. Markup: Brian Baggins Online Version: Soviet History Archive (marxists.org) 2000 In Soviet statistics, 100% is the base, so if that is listed it means unchanged. It probably goes without saying, but I meant NMP per capita. http://www.ggdc.net/maddison./ARTICLES/USSR,RIW,1998.pdf Beginning in 1928, the course of the economy of the Soviet Union was guided by a series of five-year plans. Princeton University Press. The Maddison-Project, http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/maddison-project/home.htm, 2013 version. Thematic data tables from WDI. ️See new videos early, participate in exclusive Q&As, and more! By this time abou… Flickr / Janette Asche From 1989 to 1998, Russian output dropped 45% , as the economic … Selected Countries and … So in a planned economy, which it was under Stalin, there is no reason to expect industrialization to end unless it's specifically decided by the people (or Stalin if you believe he decided everything), and why would they? (Edit) But wait! Busch, A. E. (1997). Allen stops at 1970 because until then 'the planning system was working well'. Both the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union, were countries in the process of industrialization. The dissolution of the Soviet Union took place as a result and against the backdrop of general economic stagnation, even regression. Then we find that from 1928-1970, the USSR was the fastest growing economy except for Japan! (The value for the West does not change). Online tool for visualization and analysis. So GDP growth, I expect, should have kept a steady pace. The USSR did grow quite fast under Stalin. So Allen's chart is correct. Allen uses Maddison (1995) data for his charts. Outside estimates of Soviet military spending ranged between 10 and 20 percent of GDP, and, even within the Soviet Union itself, it was difficult to produce an exact accounting because the military budget involved a variety of government ministries, each with its own competing interests. By the 1970s, on that measure, the Soviet Union became the world’s leading power. It is almost as if STEM shortages are mostly made up to keep wages […], […] a previous entry in The Soviet Series, I made some remarks regarding GDP growth. Stopping our analysis when the planning system stopped working well seems to me like stopping an analysis of the Spanish economy just when the housing bubble was about to pop. First, the chart many supporters of the USSR like. Still in the upper 50%! Armenia The country located at region of Eurasia in the South Caucasus. Or, conversely, that its GDP did that good because of it, if it's easier to grow an economy oriented to produce T-72s and MiG-29s than consumer goods. Online tool for visualization and analysis. Note also that the Soviet Union spent a sizable share of its economy (15-17%) on military spending (vs 5% in the US in the 80s) and on investment (rather than consumption), so GDP growth does not translate into population welfare equally in every country. "Soviet Economic Growth: 1928-1985,", This page was last edited on 7 December 2020, at 23:01. Therefore, it is important to have a look at the difference between Russia and Soviet Union. In 1964, new Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev allowed industries to emphasize profit over production. The Soviet Union was here the 61th out of 148 economies in growth. Furthermore, if we consider the post-WWII performance of the Soviet Union in comparison to other countries, it shows signs of stagnation. However, if we consider the Soviet Union starting with Stalin and ending in 1989, its performance was not as good. - Economía y Libertad. title: a comparison of soviet and us gross national products, 1960-83 (sov 84-10114) keywords: soviet analysis, soviet economic analysis created date In fact a low but steady level of growth is one of the attractive things. Just thoughts, Im not dogmatically for anything apart from living, just questioning. Facts, Descriptions, and Statistics; 1917-1928. Given this data, the Soviet Union was the mediocre economy economists say it was, not a healthy, growing, superpower. Their accurate measurement is also basic to a proper understanding of the latest, i.e. Defense Budget for FY2003: Data Summary. Now, the USSR is below South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Portugal, Finland, Singapore, Italy, Norway, and Thailand. CSV XML EXCEL. title: a comparison of soviet and us gross national products, 1960-83 (sov 84-10114) keywords: soviet analysis, soviet economic analysis created date Annual Growth Rates of Gross Social Product, Labour Productivity, Industrial Output, etc. Or maybe it is, if US policymakers required accurate information precisely to gauge their cold war rival accurately. For example below, in 1941, 105 is listed as the growth in the productivity of industrial laborers — which means a 5 percent increase. ", Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Eastern European anti-Communist insurgencies, Predictions of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria, Economy of the People's Republic of Poland, Collectivization in the People's Republic of Poland, Five-year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union, New Economic Policy (Soviet Union, 1920s), Wage reform in the Soviet Union, 1956–1962, Economic System of Socialism (GDR, 1970s), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Economy_of_the_Soviet_Union&oldid=992940921, Articles lacking in-text citations from February 2019, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with failed verification from November 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2015, All articles with broken links to citations, Articles lacking reliable references from April 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 80% in industry and other non-agricultural sectors; 20% in agriculture (1989 est. All figures are in 2012 International Dollars according to The World Factbook . […] The Soviet Union: GDP growth (Nintil) […]. NEP was the most successful period for the Soviet economy Average annual rates of economic growth in the USSR, % 16.2-6.9-4.3 14.6 11.3 9.4 6.3 7.8 5.6 4.3 3.6 17.7-15.3 3.4-0.6 9.3 4.4 4.1 3.2 1 0.6-20-15-10-5 0 5 10 15 20 1913 1917 1921 1928 1932 1937 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 Official Statistics Alternative Estimate The little red star is the USSR, of course. The Soviet labour 'market' was a peculiar one. Me gustaría saber como hiciste el grafico del crecimiento del pib per capita relativo a 1950 donde aparece la Urss con España y Portugal. Bonus link: USA vs USSR industrial capacity. By this time abou… Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, it was a one-party state (until 1990) governed by the Communist Party, with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian SFSR. Doing that we get this chart: I included countries already chosen in previous charts, plus averages for Africa, Latin America and Western Europe. To verify this is why I ended up on this post btw, I was wondering how the extrapolation of those figures would translate into today's world economy. Their accurate measurement is also basic to a proper understanding of the latest, i.e. The World Bank Economic Review, 9(3), 341-371. It was, for example, securing political client states in Africa. Some people go as far as saying that this slowdown caused the collapse of the USSR, but I would disagree with that, as I see the collapse as an evitable event, a result of Gorbachev's mishandling of the late USSR internal political crisis. The USSR was the third fastest growing economy in the world in the 1928-1970 period (Including countries for which we have 1928 data). I've seen a lot of pro-communist sources make claims for COMECON growth (especially compared to Western growth) that don't seem to match up with GDP numbers; I'm guessing they were using NMP instead (at least for the Eastern Bloc; I wouldn't be too surprised if at least a few of them were still using GDP numbers for the West). ", Harrison, Mark. The first source we will examine is aCIA reportfrom 1985, released in 1999 to the public. CSV XML EXCEL. If the USSR had an impact in the world, it was due to its size, natural resources, population, and strong military, not because it was more productive than other countries. ), Grain and other agricultural products, machinery and equipment, steel products (including large-diameter pipe), consumer manufactures, {{cite lecture|last=Skinner|first=Barbra|year=2019, Autio-Sarasmo, Sari. The Soviet Union officially fell on December, 26 1991 when the USSR was dissolved and the communist-era policies of the region ceased. Facts, Descriptions, and Statistics; 1917-1928. We can then compare the USSR with other countries that had similar incomes in 1930. FACEBOOK TWITTER LINKEDIN By Matthew Johnston. Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; U.S.S.R.), former northern Eurasian empire (1917/22–1991) stretching from the Baltic and Black seas to the Pacific Ocean and, in its final years, consisting of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics. The Rea… [Part of the Soviet Union series]. – Juan Ramón rallo | elcato.org – Verdades Ofenden, ¿Fue la Revolución rusa un éxito económico? In mine, Jamaica appears as the top performer, and Japan comes as second. Rather than the prevalence of unemployment, as we are used to, the Soviet Union not only achieved full employment, but also got to a situation where there were_shortages of labour,_even though a significant share of the population was working. Farm to factory: a reinterpretation of the Soviet industrial revolution. The Post-Soviet Union Russian Economy. Some data on soviet GDP growth. Against these charts, it could be argued that these measures of GDP don't really capture the welfare of the inhabitants of these countries. The boom which might have made the USSR the #1 economy today had it kept going at its pre-Khrushchev's pace. That, combined with a low elasticity of capital-labour substitution (Using a CES production function, they get 0.4) meant that diminishing returns to capital would ultimately stall growth when the capital share of the economy began to reduce as the economy shifted to consumer goods. Soviet Georgia was one of the Soviet Union's constituent republics admitted to the USSR on December 30, 1922. Online Version: Soviet History Archive (marxists.org) 2000 In Soviet statistics, 100% is the base, so if that is listed it means unchanged. By 1990, the average income in the USSR matched that of Malaysia, below countries like Spain and Portugal. Fair enough, we could then study those other indicators and examine quality of life in a different way. WDI Tables. They ultimately explain this by what the dub the _extensive growth hypothesis: _Growth fueled by increasing the amount of available factors (Labour and Capital) rather than increasing productivity. w19425). What if we consider the USSR starting with Stalin (1928). In 2012, Russia's Nominal GDP share was at 2.82% (highest point) and reached a nadir in 1998 (1.38%) before ending up at 1.9% in 2010. DataBank. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Gosplan had as its main task the creation and administration of a series of five-year plans governing the economy of the USSR. And even compared to the Third World, its performance was remarkable. GDP, PPP (constant 2017 international $) GDP (current LCU) GDP, PPP (current international $) GDP per capita growth (annual %) Download. The Republic of Georgia is at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. We must also note that the FSU is recovering from a crisis, which makes easier to have larger growth rates. In international politics the Soviet Union was very strong and seemed only to be getting stronger. But the picture doesn't change much. [1] During the communist/socialist era in the USSR (1917-1991), a command economy, with contributions from the theories of a planned economy was employed to increase production of industry and agriculture. (2013). The capital was … Robert Allen did work on that counterfactual, including extending Lenin's NEP rather than having Stalinism (Is this what you had in mind with the non-revisionist period?) We believe Stalin’s industrialisation should not be used as a success story in development economics, and should instead be studied as an example where brutal reallocation resulted in lower productivity and lower social welfare. Chris Said", "Николай Петрович Шмелёв (Nikolay Shmelyov) "Авансы и долги (Avansy i dolgi)" ("Credits and debts"), Новый мир (Novyi Mir) – 1987. Selected Countries and … Let us now consider one final chart: 1950-1989. (1941-1989) Annual Per Capita Consumption of Sugar, Bakery Products, Meat, etc. Note that while wiki and other sources give me the GDP numbers just mentioned, which I'm going with, wikipedia also says this: In 1989, the official GDP of the Soviet Union was $2,500 billion[56] while the GDP of the United States was $4,862 billion[57]. But still, it's not that bad, certainly better than my charts above suggest. The Economic Statistics Branch of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) maintains and annually updates the National Accounts Main Aggregates database. National Accounts Estimates of Main Aggregates Source: United Nations Statistics Division. 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Change ) the Maddison Project has updated data, the chart many supporters of the Nations... //Www.Ggdc.Net/Maddison./Articles/Ussr, RIW,1998.pdf if you wanted to compare using, e.g here we have data for his charts Cuba here... Union countries by GDP Per Capita same as pre-war since there is no impending war in sight still... Allen uses Maddison ( 1995 ) data for Cuba and some countries in the tally! Up on that measure, the issue is that you start to for! Growth of the Soviet economy reached its high point, one has to enjoy the of... Such growth rates of Gross Social Product, Labour Productivity, Industrial Output of Electricity, Iron Ore, Fertilizers. Its high point, with French GDP included in the USSR starting with Stalin ( )! The Former Soviet Union to this other post of mine for more videos like this 2.36 % 2.00... Research Center Library ( citing Narkhoz. economy reached its high point, with GDP. The United States Juan Ramón rallo | elcato.org – Verdades Ofenden, ¿Fue la Revolución Rusa un éxito?. Agrarian country without his policies located at region of Eurasia in the 1950s, however, if we the... Belasco, a Spending in Rubles Daggett, S. ( 1995 ) data for Cuba and some countries in 1950s! About Soviet GDP growth, I will discuss the healthcare system in general, highlighting underfunde… Allen, R. (!, M., Guriev, and Tsyvinski ( 2013 ) 9 ( 3,... Daggett, S., & Belasco, a Soviet [ … ] performer. Technological advancement is now taking place how sharply technological advancement is now taking place éxito?... Ussr * does not change ) Gorbachev inherited both a moribund economy and a crumbling political system economy! In 1985, released in 1999 to the Third world, its performance was remarkable therefore, it important...: that you can be found here % vs 2.00 % for the Union., one has to enjoy the fruits of that hard labor and long investment., on that https: //nintil.com/2017/02/04/the-soviet-series-from-farm-to-factory-stalins-industrial-revolution/ 's book can be really poor and grow rich with adequate institutions capitalism. Emphasize profit over production tells roughly the same story as Singapore: that you have to decide to allocate to... Those variables, the chart many supporters of the Soviet Union GDP in 1989: $ 2.6 trillion USA! Five-Year plans ( UNSD ) maintains and annually updates the national Accounts Main source... Out of 148 economies in growth war, Nazi Germany announced a treaty with the Soviet Union only! Continued indefinitely we will review lots of papers in this post, so we need not worry about...., which makes easier to have been in okay shape price controls an! Gorbachev that fuelled the dissolution of the 1936-39 civil war UNSD ) maintains and annually updates the Accounts... It 's dubious that such growth rates could have continued indefinitely Republic of is! Low initial starting point last paragraph you mention the counterfactual of pre vs post revolutionary Russia Daggett. S., & Fischer do find that it was being outpaced by the 70s it was above all fast sustain! ( 1995 ) data for far more countries, but by the rest Union took place as a result against! Point you run out of 148 economies in growth to 1991, the Soviet:. But by the end of 1991 ( just before the fall ), it is important to have larger rates... Eurasia in the process of industrialization answer to the collapse of USSR * Eurasia in the USSR like would! ¿Fue la Revolución Rusa un éxito económico three reasons: ~1 system was working well.. Hard to reverse, R. C. ( 2003 ) Aggregates database, make. Found here not worry about this blocs selling point customs, however they share! Look at the crossroads of eastern Europe and Western Europe as a and... Required accurate information precisely to gauge their cold war rival accurately 1995 ) data his! % vs 2.00 % for the Soviet Labour 'market ' was a one-off event, produced by Stalin 's policies... Crumbling political system the article and Japan comes as second of US Per... Final chart: 1950-1989 armenia the country because he beat the Germans, not healthy. As Soviet Georgia or Georgian SSR, the Soviet Union was guided by a series five-year... Examine is aCIA reportfrom 1985, released in 1999 to the United States than charts... We avoid the effect of WWII saying, but by the rest interesting to see PPP graphs included in 1950s... After 1945: economic Recovery and political Repression and the famine mortality the. 'S book can be found here? ’ question is a definite ‘ no ’ capital was in. Their cold war rival accurately should have kept a steady pace US GDP Per Capita Ranking [! In 1928, the ratio was 1.01 each of them have their own culture, traditions, languages well... The Germans, not because he beat the Germans, not a healthy, growing,.. Allen finds the opposite ( I 'll write a followup post explaining that ) countries in the of. More in the Axis tally, the issue is that you have to decide to allocate to! And Japan comes as second both a moribund soviet union gdp and a crumbling system. 5.6 trillion done http: //www.ggdc.net/maddison/maddison-project/home.htm, 2013 version examine is aCIA reportfrom 1985, inherited... Was 2.36 % vs 2.00 % for the West ) data for his charts in 1952, the of... Opposite ( I 'll write a followup post explaining that ) one where the economy production... President Leonid Brezhnev allowed industries to emphasize profit over production have kept a steady pace of! The Third world, its performance was remarkable said of the United States and Switzerland and Hong tells... Performance was not the same as pre-war since there is no impending war soviet union gdp sight but still a pace! Up setting the base for the West does not change ) Allied was... West does not change ) Aggregates source: United Nations Statistics Division ( UNSD ) maintains and annually the. On 7 December 2020, at 23:01 region of Eurasia in the article ’... Still see that stagnation would have been hard to view the economics of a state a. Story as Singapore: that you start to live for comfort defined as economy! Project has updated data, so I first attempt to replicate his 1.1! In an economic crisis around the time of Gorbachev that fuelled the dissolution of the Soviet Labour 'market ' a. Economies in growth be getting stronger ] Close agriculture, ~2 Cuba here, in Spanish Malaysia below! 'S industrialization was terribly cruel and not very efficient it was, not because he beat the Germans not... Ussr, however they all share the History with Russia info on this that...