Russia's Far East car imports hit a record high: 22.8% in the first five months, with Japan still accounting for 90%

From January to May 2026, customs in the Far East of Russia handled a total of 152,400 import procedures for personal use vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 22.8%, setting a new high for the same period...

According to Russia's "Kommersant" newspaper citing data from the Far Eastern Customs Administration, from January to May 2026, customs in the Russian Far East handled a total of 152,400 vehicles for personal use, a year-on-year increase of 22.8%, setting a new high for the same period. Although Russia has continued to increase its car recycling fees in recent years, the import fever has not cooled significantly.

Vladivostok remains the first port for car imports in the Russian Far East

Data shows that the Far East region is still the core channel for Russian car imports.

Among them:

Vladivostok Customs handled 112,500 vehicles, ranking first in the country;

Ussurysk Customs handled 33,000 vehicles;

Chita Customs handles about 2500 vehicles.

The three major ports together account for the vast majority of imports, especially Vladivostok, which continues to maintain its position as Russia's number one gateway for car imports.

The industry believes that this shows that the Far East Port's mature logistics system and long-established import chain still have strong advantages, and it is also an important distribution center for personal car purchases and used car imports in Russia.

Japan still accounts for 90%, and China remains the third source

From the perspective of country of origin, Japan is still far ahead. First five months of this year:

Japan exported more than 138,000 cars to Russia, accounting for 90.8% of all imports;

South Korea has about 10,000 vehicles, accounting for 6.6%;

There are about 4000 vehicles in China, accounting for 2.6%.

Although China's current proportion is still not high, against the background of continuous adjustment of Russian import channels and continuous development of parallel imports, China's source vehicles have maintained a growth trend in recent years. In particular, international brand models circulating in the China market and some China brand models are gradually becoming important supplements to the Russian import market.

It is worth noting that this set of data refers to the import of vehicles for personal use through the Far East Customs, which is not completely equivalent to Russia's overall automobile import structure. Therefore, not all vehicles entering Russia through other channels from China are included.

written in the end

The import volume of Far East Customs continues to grow, indicating that there is still demand for imported cars in the Russian market, and the increase in recycling fees has not completely suppressed consumption. For China's second-hand car exporters, Japan is still the absolute main force of Russian individual car imports, but the importance of China's car sources is gradually increasing. In the future, as Russia's import channels are further diversified and the recognition of China brands and models in the China market continues to increase, China's share in the Russian automobile import system will still have room for growth.

Source: Guangdong Good Car

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