The number of unprofitable sectors in Russian business has grown almost fourfold – from three to 11 in seven months of 2026, Izvestia calculated based on Rosstat data. Every third company ended the period with a loss.

The total profit after deducting losses amounted to 13 trillion rubles – 16% less than a year ago, and the share of unprofitable companies grew to 33.4%. The largest negative balance is in metallurgy (269 billion rubles), the financial sector (247 billion), and coal mining (178 billion). In the automotive industry, losses exceeded profits by almost 4 billion rubles.

Last year's outsiders – coal, passenger transportation, and postal services – were joined by woodworking, mining of other minerals, forestry, sports and entertainment, museums and libraries, as well as insurance.

Expensive loans eat up income: with a key rate of 14%, borrowed money for companies often costs more than 20%. Pressure is intensified by weak demand, rising costs for salaries and logistics, increased VAT, and a strong ruble. Investments in fixed assets in the first half of the year decreased by 10%. At the same time, oil and gas and pharmaceuticals are increasing their results: oil and gas production yielded 2.5 trillion rubles (+51%), and pharmaceutical production – 225 billion (+34%).