Funeral Services – the Only Beneficiary of the rf’s Economy in 2025

Industrial production in russia in the first half of 2025 increased by 1.4 % year-on-year, mainly due to the government’s orders to enterprises related to the military-industrial complex. The greatest growth was recorded in the production of special-purpose vehicles (3.4 times more than in 2022), electronics and optics (2.1 times), as well as metal products (1.5 times).

The only growing segment in the civil sector is funeral services. Against the background of demographic decline and losses in the war against Ukraine, the industry grew by 16 % in the first half of the year, and its volume in January–April reached almost $425 million.

Other branches of civil industry, on the contrary, show a decline. In June, the overall industrial production index decreased by 1.9 %. The biggest decline was in the production of civil transport (-26.8 %), electronics (-8.6 %) and leather goods (-4.7 %).

In July, the industrial optimism index dropped below the levels of the years 2016 and 2022. 61 % of the surveyed experts pointed out “significantly lower than normal” production volumes. The balance of expectations for the production turned negative for the first time since August 2022.

Against the background of a decline in the car market, KamAZ, following GAZ and AvtoVAZ, is switching to a four-day working week. At the same time, exports of sunflower oil decreased by 38 % year-on-year.

The number of companies planning to reduce staff has doubled: from 6.9 % in January to 11.5 % in June. Most of all – in mining, mechanical engineering and pharmaceuticals.

Current dynamics points to deep structural imbalances that threaten with technological lost potential in the civil sector. Meanwhile, the State Duma calls for punishing citizens for “discrediting” domestic goods, interpreting criticism as “unpatriotic”.