Rospotrebnadzor compared the losses of the economy of Russia and Germany due to COVID

The Russian economy has lost far less than Germany and Australia on a per capita basis during the CORONAVIRUS pandemic. This was announced to RIA Novosti by the HEAD of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

“If we count from the figures known to us today, published in different countries, then on a per capita basis, the losses of the Russian economy amounted to $306 due to the pandemic, and in Germany this number is $4807, in Australia - $5760 per capita. The numbers are incomparable,” said Popova. She added that this indicates the absolutely correct actions of Russia in a pandemic.

Popova added that the system of events that was organized in Russia and in a number of other countries was different. For example, Russian experts argued that the lockdown is an ineffective measure, so there were no lockdowns in Russia, with the exception of the very first, when little was known about the virus.

On June 1, Rospotrebnadzor reported that the economic damage caused to Russia by the pandemic in 2022 amounted to about 1.6 trillion rubles. At the same time, the direct costs of medical care for those who fell ill amounted to from 0.76 trillion to 1.35 trillion rubles, and the authorities estimated the loss of working time in the event of a death of patients of working age at no less than 0.5 trillion rubles. The department emphasized that the total economic damage could be significantly higher if it were not for the identification of most of the infected at an early stage.

In 2021, Rospotrebnadzor estimated the damage to the Russian economy, which, according to the agency, amounted to almost 1 trillion rubles in 2020, which is 1.4 times more than the total damage from other infectious diseases. First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov claimed that the state spent a total of 4 trillion rubles to support the economy during the pandemic.

Rosstat reported that in 2020 Russia's GDP fell by 2.7% due to coronavirus restrictions and a drop in global energy demand. The agency noted that due to the pandemic, value added in service industries has sharply decreased and final demand within the country has fallen with an increase in net exports of goods and services due to a sharp 12.1% drop in imports.

Former head of the Accounts Chamber Alexei Kudrin said that in general, the global economy lost from $4 trillion to $10 trillion due to COVID, a significant part of these losses fell on the budgets of regions and municipalities.