FIFA World Cup Cumulative Effect On Russian GDP In 2013-2018 Totals $14.5Bln - Organizers

The cumulative effect of the FIFA World Cup that was held in Russia this summer on the Russian 2013-2018 GDP has totaled 952 billion rubles ($14.52 billion), or nearly 1 percent of the country's annual GDP, a report by the Local Organizing Committee showed on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th October, 2018) The cumulative effect of the FIFA World Cup that was held in Russia this summer on the Russian 2013-2018 GDP has totaled 952 billion rubles ($14.52 billion), or nearly 1 percent of the country's annual GDP, a report by the Local Organizing Committee showed on Tuesday.

"The total effect of the World Cup on the Russian 2013-2018 GDP totaled 952 billion rubles [$14.52 billion], or around one percent of the country's annual GDP. Although the tournament started influencing the GDP already in 2013, over 50 percent of the total effect accounts for 2017-2018. In these years, the GDP growth amounted to 0.4 percent of the annual index due to preparing and hosting the tournament," the report read.

According to the report, Russia spent 688 billion rubles to organize the event.

About 79 percent, or 751 billion rubles, of the cumulative effect was achieved by the returns on investment.

The major share of the investment impact was observed in 2016 and 2017, the report specified.

"In the five-year prospective, the impact of the FIFA World Cup is estimated to reach 150-200 billion rubles a year, which is compatible with the effect observed when the event was being organized and held. About one third of the future effect is expected to come from tourism and long-term investment," the organizers said.

The cumulative effect of the FIFA World Cup on the Russian GDP exceeds the impact from the tournament in Brazil, Germany, South Korea and South Africa and approaches the one of Japan.

Russia hosted the FIFA World Cup on June 14-July 15. The French national football team won the tournament.