MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign trade decreased by 43.9% year-on-year to $321.4 billion in January-September 2009, the Federal Customs Service said in a statement on Friday.
Foreign trade surplus dwindled to $91.7 billion year-on-year in the reporting period.
The customs service said Russia's trade with non-CIS countries amounted to $274.4 billion (down 43.7%), while trade with CIS states stood at $47 billion (down $45%) in January-September.
Russia exported $206.6 billion worth of products in the first nine months of 2009, down by 44.3% against the same period of last year.
The decrease in exports was caused by a plunge in prices for Russian commodity exports in late 2008.
Imports to Russia reached $114.8 billion in the reporting period, down 43.1% against the first nine months of 2008 due to a decrease in the amount of imported goods.
