Food Self‑sufficiency in Russia: What We Produce Ourselves and What We Import
According to Rosstat, in 2024 Russia covered 102% of its meat consumption, 152% of grain, 97% of eggs and 85% of milk with domestic production. It is noticeably worse with fruits and berries: 43%. This means that almost every second kilogram of apples, grapes and berries on the shelves is imported. Below, year by year since 2000, what has risen, what has fallen and where in the country production is many times higher than domestic consumption. The charts are available in full on the website.
What the self‑sufficiency level means
The self‑sufficiency level shows what share of consumption a country meets with its own production. One hundred percent means that the amount produced is exactly enough for internal needs. More than one hundred: there are surpluses that can be exported. Less than one hundred: the shortfall has to be imported.
For a region the same principle works on a smaller scale: how much product was produced in the area and how much was eaten and processed there. Therefore, Belgorod Oblast reaches almost a thousand percent for meat, while Moscow is zero. The region feeds not only itself.
Self-sufficiency by products: 2000-2024
In 2024 the picture for the main products is as follows:
| Product | 2000 | 2010 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grain | 102.5% | 93.3% | 152.4% |
| Meat | 67.0% | 72.2% | 101.9% |
| Milk | 88.3% | 80.4% | 84.7% |
| Eggs | 97.5% | 98.3% | 97.1% |
| Potatoes | 99.6% | 73.4% | 92.0% |
| Vegetables and melons | 85.6% | 76.9% | 88.6% |
| Fruits and berries | 55.7% | 26.8% | 43.1% |
Two products have risen: meat and grain. Milk has hardly moved in twenty‑four years, eggs stay around one hundred. Potatoes and vegetables fluctuate from harvest to harvest.
Meat has made the longest journey. In 2000 its share covered two thirds of consumption (67%), in 2015 it was 88.7%, and in 2020 it reached a hundred for the first time: 100.1%. Since then the figure stays around 102%. What lies behind this you can see in the article about meat prices by year.
Grain behaves differently: it depends heavily on weather. In 2010 there was a drought and self‑sufficiency fell to 93.3%, in 2022 a record harvest gave 191.4%, and in 2024 it was 152.4%. More about harvests: grain harvest in Russia by year.
Milk is the worst off. The minimum was in 2013: 77.1%. After that the indicator recovered to 86.0% in 2023 and fell again to 84.7% in 2024. About 15% of consumption is lacking. What about milk prices, read in a separate article: milk prices by year.
Open the dataset "Level of self‑sufficiency with main food products in the Russian Federation": 8 rows for 25 years.
Fruits and berries: the weakest spot
Looking at the whole table, Russia depends most on imports in one area: fruits and berries. In 2000 its share was 55.7%. By 2010 the share fell to 26.8%. Then a slow rise began: 36.5% in 2016, 42.4% in 2020, record levels for recent years 47.3% in 2022 and 43.1% in 2024.
One hundred percent is unattainable here: citrus fruits and bananas will not grow in our climate. However, the difference between 2010 and 2024 shows that domestic fruits and berries have become noticeably more abundant.
Potatoes and vegetables are considerably better. Vegetables and melons cover 88.6%, potatoes 92.0%. In 2023 potatoes were at 101.0%, but in 2024 the harvest slipped and the figure dropped by nine points. This is a case where a single poor harvest year is immediately visible in the numbers.
What we have in reserve
In the table for recent years there are products where we produce noticeably more than we consume:
- Vegetable oil: 260.2% in 2024 versus 125.5% in 2015. Over nine years the figure doubled.
- Fish and fish products: 125.4% in 2024, but this is a decline from 145.8% in 2022.
- Sugar: 107.1% in 2024, and in 2023 it was 114.2%.
The worst situation is with table salt: 62.1% in 2024, compared with 68.5% in 2015.
Self‑sufficiency by region: variation by hundreds of times
The country as a whole covers about one hundred percent of its meat consumption. But within the country the picture is completely different. Rosstat publishes figures for 91 regions, and the spread is huge.
Meat, 2024, leaders:
- Belgorod Oblast: 961.5%;
- Bryansk Oblast: 608.2%;
- Kursk Oblast: 541.9%;
- Republic of Mordovia: 533.3%;
- Tambov Oblast: 454.7%.
Meat, 2024, at the very bottom: Murmansk Oblast (1.1%), Magadan Oblast (2.5%), Republic of Karelia (4.1%). In Moscow and Saint Petersburg the own production of meat in this table rounds to zero.
Belgorod Oblast produces almost ten times more meat than it consumes: in 2020 it was 906.0%, by 2024 it had risen to 961.5%. The rest goes to other regions.
In the large southern regions, on the contrary, meat is not the main product. In Krasnodar Krai self‑sufficiency with meat is 77.4%, and it fell over four years from 83.1%. However, for grain the krai ranks second after Rostov Oblast: 348.3% versus 423.7% for the Rostovians. Stavropol Krai gives 329.9%.
Milk, 2024: the leader is the Republic of Mordovia (235.3%), followed by Kirov Oblast (216.6%) and Ryazan (204.2%). In Belgorod Oblast 164.1%, in Krasnodar Krai 105.2%. Murmansk Oblast 11.6%, Khabarovsk Krai 7.7%.
Potatoes, 2024: ahead are Astrakhan Oblast (246.4%), Bryansk (195.1%) and Tula (191.5%). Moscow covers less than one percent with its potatoes (0.8%).
Each of these rows opens in a table with a chart for all 91 regions:
- self‑sufficiency with meat by subjects;
- self‑sufficiency with milk by subjects;
- self‑sufficiency with potatoes by subjects;
- self‑sufficiency with grain by subjects.
Grain in the regions: it fell where it was highest
In Kursk Oblast, grain self‑sufficiency is almost half of what it was in 2020: 347.9% then and 195.8% in 2024. In Belgorod Oblast it was 100.9% in 2020 and only 58.8% in 2024. Voronezh Oblast stays afloat thanks to bountiful years: 189.4%, 132.8%, 201.2%, 184.6% and 139.9% from 2020 to 2024.
This shows that the nationwide figure of 152.4% is composed of very different regions. Some produce three times more grain than they consume, while some do not grow it at all: Murmansk Oblast, Magadan Oblast, Karelia, Komi, Sakhalin and Chukotka show a zero value in the table.
Frequent questions
What is food self‑sufficiency?
It is the share of domestic consumption that a country or region covers with its own production. One hundred percent means that its own production is exactly enough.
Which products does Russia fully provide for itself?
In 2024, more than one hundred percent were grain (152.4%), meat (101.9%), vegetable oil (260.2%), fish (125.4%) and sugar (107.1%). Eggs (97.1%) almost reach one hundred.
What does Russia import the most abroad?
By relative indicators, it is fruits and berries: domestic production covers 43.1% of consumption. Next are salt (62.1%) and milk (84.7%).
When did Russia start providing itself with meat?
In 2020, meat self‑sufficiency first reached one hundred percent (100.1%). In 2000 it was 67.0%.
Which region produces the most meat relative to consumption?
Belgorod Oblast: 961.5% in 2024.
In short
- Meat: from 67.0% in 2000 to 101.9% in 2024, in 2020 it crossed one hundred percent for the first time.
- Grain: 152.4% in 2024 with a record 191.4% in 2022.
- Milk stands still: 88.3% in 2000, 84.7% in 2024.
- Fruits and berries: 43.1%, which is better than 26.8% in 2010.
- Vegetable oil: 260.2%, in 2015 it was 125.5%.
- Between regions the gap is hundreds of times: from zero in Moscow to 961.5% for meat in Belgorod Oblast.
- Source of all figures: Rosstat, tables on the level of self‑sufficiency with basic food products.