Russian gross domestic product ( GDP) totaled 765.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, up 50 percent from 1999, the economy minister said on Friday.

Russian GDP in 1999 amounted to 196 billion dollars, and in 2005 topped 765.8 billion dollars, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said at a ministry meeting, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

In real terms, GDP increased 50 percent in this period, he said.

Russia's GDP grew 6.4 percent last year. Gref said the economy developed significantly faster than those in developed countries, but he also noted a slowdown of growth in Russia, which he said resulted from the exhaustion of key conditions for high growth, such as accelerated growth of the oil and gas sector, available capacity and a relatively low ruble rate.

"The only way to increase the growth rate is to increase labor productivity and diversify the economy," Gref said.

Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and also provides about a quarter of the natural gas consumed in the European Union. The country has seen its state coffers swell at a time when rising demand has doubled oil prices.

Source: Xinhua