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WINDOW TO BELARUS
Here we publish the most important figures of the month, as well as sociological notes on the sentiments inside Belarus.
Figures of the month: January 2025
30 applicants out of 241 received a positive response from the Commission for Consideration of Appeals of Citizens of the Republic of Belarus on Offences committed by them during the two years of its work, only 20 of them returned to Belarus. The Commission aims to bring back citizens who left the country after the 2020 protests.
60% of the population trusts the state mass media, and the Belarusian national content in the aggregate makes up more than 70% – according to official information.
7 points out of 100 scored Belarus in the rating of political and civil liberties compiled by the human rights organisation Freedom House.
4 MAZ buses were sold on the Russian market in January 2025 – 21 times less than a year earlier (84).
9% is the share of Belarus in the Russian foreign trade turnover.
Figures for 2024
$60 billion – the potential trade turnover between Belarus and Russia by the end of 2024.
$7 billion – the projected annual trade turnover between Belarus and Moscow, the capital of Russia.
$9 billion – the estimated food exports in 2024.
$1.7 billion – the net foreign currency sales by individuals in Belarus in 2024 (six times higher than in 2023).
$5.37 billion – the foreign trade deficit in goods in 2024 (a 65.2% increase compared to the previous year).
41 provocations were committed on the southern border by Ukraine, according to the State Border Committee of Belarus in 2024.
€8 billion per year – the volume of mutual trade turnover between Belarus and the European Union.
50 pardon applications were submitted to the Pardon Commission in 2024.
246.6 billion BYN – Belarus’s GDP at the end of 2024 (4% growth).
1 million cubic metres of Belarusian sawn timber were exported in 2024 – a record high in the history of sovereign Belarus.
227 people convicted under extremist articles were pardoned by President A. Lukashenko in 2024.
395 UAV intrusions into Belarus from Ukraine and Russia were recorded from July to December 2024.
36,291 attempts by migrants to illegally cross the border from Belarus into EU neighbouring countries were recorded – 13.8% fewer than in 2023 (42,078 attempts).
29,972 attempts to illegally cross the Poland-Belarus border were recorded in 2024 (26,000 in 2023, 15,000 in 2022).
82.6% of illegal migration attempts into the EU from Belarus in 2024 were recorded at the Polish-Belarusian border (29,972 cases, +17.2% compared to 2023).
99,000 tonnes of pork were purchased by Belarus from Russia in 2024 (45% of Russia’s total pork exports last year).
2,600 Belarusians received international protection in Poland in 2024.
598 Belarusian citizens were declared a national security threat by Lithuania in 2024 (1,428 in 2023).
Scandal of the Year
The incident is a consequence of Armenia’s decision in summer 2024 to suspend official contacts with Belarus as long as Lukashenko remains in power. This decision was triggered by numerous controversial statements made by the Belarusian president regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in mid-May 2024, as well as remarks about the situation in Armenia.
Figures of the month: December 2024
Over 13,000 people will take part in the Zapad-2025 joint Russian-Belarusian military exercise scheduled to be held in Belarus in September 2025, according to the official representative of the Ministry of Defence of Belarus.
Belarus ranked 167th out of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index.
35.99% of voters cast their ballots during early voting in the presidential election, according to official data.
86.82% – this is the result officially reported by Minsk for A. Lukashenko in the presidential election.
4 hours and 25 minutes – the duration of A. Lukashenko’s press conference on election day, 26 January 2025.
30 new titles have been added to the list of banned books in Belarus.
3 to 4 "Oreshnik" missile systems per year – this is the production capacity stated by A. Lukashenko on 26 January 2025.
55 days – the duration of the "planned" maintenance of the first unit of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant.
24 countries congratulated A. Lukashenko on his election victory in the first week after the vote.
31 individuals convicted under extremist articles were pardoned in Belarus in January 2025.
42.4% of the consolidated budget of Belarus for 2025 will be allocated to social spending.
15.7% decrease in total defence spending in regional budgets of Belarus is expected in 2025 compared to the previous year.
Figures of the month: November 2024
1 500 000 signatures in favour of Lukashenko's nomination as a presidential candidate were allegedly collected by his initiative group in three weeks.
62 people convicted of extremist offences were pardoned in November.
280 000 Belarusians received residence permits in the EU in 2023.
148 957 Belarusians were granted EU residence permits for humanitarian reasons in 2023.
Belarus' economic growth rate fell by 24% year-on-year in the three months of 2024 (July to October).
38 Russian kamikaze drones of the ‘Shahed’ type violated the airspace of Belarus on 24-25 November, setting an absolute daily record in the history of monitoring.