MOSCOW, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Russia's foreign trade surplus fell 41 percent from January to November compared with the same period last year, the Economic Development Ministry said Tuesday.

    The figure currently stands at 99.5 billion U.S. dollars, said the ministry.

    From January to November, Russian imports totaled 170.7 billion dollars, down 36.3 percent, while exports declined by 39 percent to 270.2 billion dollars year-on-year.

    As of November, the imports and exports were 20 billion and 31.6 billion dollars respectively, the ministry said.

    Official statistics showed that the overall volume of Russia's foreign trade climbed 33.2 percent to 735 billion dollars last year, with a 32-percent surge of foreign trade surplus to 201.2 billion dollars.