“An impressive figure.” How CTV doubled Belarus’ trade turnover with SCO countries

Belarus’ success in trade with SCO countries was featured in a news report on CTV on August 31, 2025.

“In the first half of 2025, total trade with SCO member states accounted for nearly 76% of all Belarusian trade. In monetary terms, that’s more than $60 billion. An impressive figure — the result of our strategy to deepen ties with far-reaching partners and to redirect trade flows from West to East.”

This information, citing CTV, also appeared in other media outlets. And on September 4, the same figures were repeated on CTV by Anastasia Savinykh, an analyst at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Research.

No official statistics on trade with SCO countries have been published. But in an interview with China Media Group, Alexander Lukashenko stated that about 75% of Belarus’ trade turnover comes from SCO countries. The claim of $60 billion in trade with SCO member states, however, is false.

According to official data, Belarus’ total foreign trade — goods and services combined — reached nearly $50 billion in January through June. So if trade with SCO countries, as Lukashenko said, accounts for 75%, the figure would be about $36.5 billion — almost half of what CTV reported.