USSR: Change in net material product 1970-1990

Based on net material product (NMP)*, the economies of Eastern Europe outgrew the Soviet Union for most of the 1970s and 1980s, apart from the late 1970s and early 1980s when conflict in the Middle East and western recessions led to economic downturns in several COMECON states (particularly Poland). It becomes clear when looking at the combined growth of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union over these two decades that the Soviet Union's economy was by far the largest in the Eastern Bloc, as the overall average is more in line with the USSR's trend line than that of Eastern Europe. Across the Eastern Bloc, the rate of NMP's growth ranged between five and nine percent throughout most of the 1970s, before ranging between two and four percent for most of the 1980s. As communism collapsed in the late 1980s, NMP rates fell drastically across the COMECON region. The average Eastern Europe NMP fell by 12 percent (East Germany's MNP fell by 19.5 percent alone) compared to four percent in the Soviet Union.

Annual change in net material product (NMP) in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc from 1970 to 1990

Characteristic	Soviet Union	Eastern Europe*	Eastern Europe and Soviet Union
1970	9%	5.7%	8%
1971	5.6%	7.3%	6.1%
1972	3.9%	8%	5.1%
1973	8.9%	8.3%	8.7%
1974	5.5%	8.6%	6.5%
1975	4.4%	7.6%	5.4%
1976	5.9%	6.1%	5.9%
1977	4.5%	5.8%	4.9%
1978	5.1%	4.2%	4.9%
1979	2.2%	2%	2.1%
1980	3.9%	0.3%	2.7%
1981	3.3%	-2.3%	1.7%
1982	3.9%	0.3%	2.8%
1983	4.2%	4.3%	4.1%
1984	2.9%	5.1%	3.6%
1985	1.6%	2.7%	2.2%
1986	2.3%	3.7%	3%
1987	1.6%	3.2%	2.1%
1988	4.4%	3.1%	4%
1989	2.4%	0.5%	1.8%
1990	-4%	-12%	-6.3%

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Release date

1993

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Region

Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, German Democratic Republic, CEE

Survey time period

1970 to 1990

Supplementary notes

*Eastern Europe here refers to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania.

**Net Material Product (NMP) was the main key economic indictor used in planned economies throughout the twentieth century (Soviet/COMECON states). NMP is calculated in a similar way to GDP, however NMP focuses on tangible output and excludes many of the factors included in GDP, such as the output of service sectors, and spending on healthcare, state administration, and defense.

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