With the Soviet Union intact, Russia could now have had 172 million people living in it, and a 67% higher economy and income.
As a result of the destruction of the Soviet Union, Russia has lost 26 million people, 40% of its economy, and 66% of its industry, various sources have estimated. This is the difference between the actual figures and the alternative figures that would have developed under the Soviet growth rate averaged over 1980-1989.
Population loss: – 26 million
According to the USSR Goskomstat forecast of 1990, the RSFSR could have 172.4m people by the end of 2022. But in fact, it is now 146.4 million.
Loss of income: – 41%
The average monthly disposable income of 80% of Russians (without the rich) in 2022 will be around 25,550 rubles. At the Soviet growth rate and level of inequality, they would have been 43,000 roubles, or 68% more.
Losses to the economy: – 40%
“As you know,” there was “stagnation” in the 1980s. In 1985, economic growth slowed to as much as 2.3%, which was used as an excuse to start perestroika. But at that rate of growth, the GDP would have been 2.1 times bigger now than it was in 1990, not 26%, as in fact it was. Russia’s economy (GDP at PPP) was $7.7 trillion instead of $4.6 trillion and would have ranked 4th in the world after China, the USA, and India.
Production losses – 66%
Agricultural losses – 44%
Asset losses – 56%
Geopolitical losses – 32%
A similar assessment of the effects of the 1941-1945 war showed that Russia’s population lost 20 million people, as estimated by Rosstat. The economy of Soviet Russia lost 44%, industry lost 41%, and agriculture lost 43%. The country lost 45% of its wealth, and the population lost 37% of its income.
As we can see, the destruction of the USSR and the transition from socialism to capitalism, that is, to a lower stage of social development, caused losses in Russia that are comparable to the losses from Hitler’s occupation in 1941-1945. If we look further and consider the split of the sister republics and the world-historical consequences, the destruction of the Soviet Union is the biggest geopolitical catastrophe in the history of mankind.