Share of plastic waste exports in Russia

Russia: Share of plastic waste exports was 0.7% in 2021. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2021)
0.7%
Change on year
up 30.9%
World rank
28th
of 162 countries
All-time high
0.7%
in 2021
All-time low
0.0%
in 2001
Years of data
16
1996–2021

Share of plastic waste exports in Russia, 1996–2021

00.20.40.60.81996200820211996: 0.466 %2001: 0.032 %2005: 0.046 %2007: 0.081 %2010: 0.107 %2011: 0.068 %2012: 0.091 %2013: 0.075 %2014: 0.074 %2015: 0.073 %2016: 0.091 %2017: 0.122 %2018: 0.354 %2019: 0.403 %2020: 0.549 %2021: 0.718 %

Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2021, share of plastic waste exports in Russia stood at 0.7%. That is the highest value across all 16 years on record.

That represents a change of up 30.9% on the previous year and up 955.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of plastic waste exports in Russia peaked at 0.7% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2001.

That places Russia 28th out of 162 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 0.5% 0.5% 0.5% 1
2000s 0.1% 0.0% 0.1% 3
2010s 0.1% 0.1% 0.4% 10
2020s 0.6% 0.5% 0.7% 2

Countries ranked near Russia

  1. 25 Saudi Arabia 0.8% compare
  2. 26 Finland 0.8% compare
  3. 27 Israel 0.8% compare
  4. 29 Latvia 0.6% compare
  5. 30 Estonia 0.5% compare
  6. 31 Lithuania 0.5% compare

See the full ranking of 162 places →

More environment data for Russia

All data for Russia →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of plastic waste exports in Russia?
Share of plastic waste exports in Russia was 0.7% in 2021, according to United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Russia?
The highest recorded value was 0.7% in 2021.
What is the lowest share of plastic waste exports recorded in Russia?
The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2001.
How does Russia rank for share of plastic waste exports?
Russia ranks 28th out of 162 countries with data for 2021.
Is share of plastic waste exports rising or falling in Russia?
Over the last ten years it is up 955.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Russia data come from?
The figures come from United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of plastic waste exports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of plastic waste exports
Unit
%
Source
United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
162 places, 2,674 data points, 1988–2024
Last refreshed

The percentage of global plastic waste exports that a country accounts for.