Balance of payments Soviet Union1970-1990
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union generally operated with a positive trade balance and current account. During these decades, the USSR was the most powerful economy in the communist sphere, exporting approximately 600 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods, almost one hundred billion more than all Europe's other COMECON members combined. The majority of the Soviet Union's trade was within the COMECON sphere. However, external influences, particularly conflict in the Middle East and its effect on oil prices, did impact the USSR economically.