Hard Figures on Russia

How is the Russian economy doing? In Stalin's day it was hard to tell, since the figures given were percentage gains from a base that was seldom given. Last week a comprehensive set of hard figures emerged for the first time, as the Russians published their first volume of production statistics in 17 years. According to The National Economy of the U.S.S.R., between 1940 and 1955:

P: Steel production rose 142%, from 18.3 million tons to 45.3 million tons. (In the same period U.S. steel output rose 67%, to 117 million tons.)

P: Coal output increased 136% from 165.9 million tons to 391 million tons (while U.S. output decreased 3.5%).

P: Oil gushed up 128%, from 212.1 million bbls. to 482.9 million bbls. (U.S. comparison: a rise of 82.8% to 2.5 billion bbls.)

P: Electric power increased 252%, from 48.3 billion kilowatt-hours annually to 170.1 billion. (U.S. kw-h rose 275%.)

P: Vehicles, including trucks and autos, increased 206%, from 145,500 to 445.300 units. (U.S. rise: 106%, from 4,472,286 to 9,212,572 units.)

P: Shoe output went up 30%, from 211 million pairs to 274.5 million. (In the U.S. it went from about 402 million to 577 million, an increase of 42%.)

P: Radio and TV sets went up 2.522%, from 161,000 to 4,222,000 units. (U.S. comparison: from 11.8 million to 22.2 million units, an 88% hike.)

The rare Soviet volume, corresponding to the U.S. Statistical Abstract, which has been issued annually since 1878, had some other fascinating informational tidbits. It reported more than 50 million students in the U.S.S.R.'s educational system, including 1,961,000 in technical schools, 1,867,000 in colleges, 30 million in high schools. It gave Russia's size as 7,875,558 sq.mi., its population as 200.2 million--a rise of only 8.5 million since 1940, apparently because of World War II deaths and dislocations.

P: The number of civilian engineers rose 102%, from 289,900 in 1941 to 585,900. (In the U.S. the number rose 100%, from 300,000 to 600,000.)

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