Putin: Russian economy first in Europe and fifth in the world

The Russian economy has taken the lead among European countries and is ranked fifth in the world, President Putin said during a meeting with entrepreneurs from the Far East in Khabarovsk.

"It seems that they are strangling and crushing us from all sides, but in terms of the volume of economy, we come first in Europe. We have left Germany behind and taken the fifth place in the world: China, USA, India, Japan, Russia. In Europe — we are number one," Putin said adding that this is an amazing result in the current conditions.

The Russian economy has overtaken other European countries in terms of the purchasing power parity, but "we still have to try harder per capita,” Putin said. In his opinion, the state has a lot to work on.

In addition, Putin believes that the growth of the Russian economy by the end of 2023 may be higher than the projected 3.5 percent. Russia's GDP may exceed four percent.