Trade between Russia and the US has increased by over 21.25% for the first five months of the year, despite ongoing sanctions against Russia.

Trade between the two countries increased from US$7.53bn to US$9.13bn for January to May, when compared to the same period last year, according to a WorldCity analysis of latest US Census Bureau data. According to Russia’s Federal Customs Service, as reported by Sputnik, trade between the two countries was up 24.6% to US$8.7bn for the period.

WorldCity data reports US exports to Russia decreased 0.06% while imports from Russia rose 31.39%, resulting in a US deficit of US$4.27bn with Russia.

Russia ranked number 30 among the US’ top trade partners for the period, up two places from 32 for the same period last year.

The top five US exports to Russia were civilian aircraft parts, motor vehicle parts, radioactive chemical elements, tractors and medicines.

The top five categories of Russian exports to the US were gasoline, aluminum, pig iron, semi-finished products of iron and platinum. Together the sectors accounted for roughly 66% of all inbound shipments.

Western states imposed sanctions against Russia during the Ukrainian crisis in 2014, when Russia used military intervention to take over of the Crimean region. The EU and the US led sanctions against Russia, which Ukraine says forced Russia to change its approach and military advances in its country. Russia has responded with its own sanctions against a number of countries, including a total ban on food imports from the EU, US, Norway, Canada and Australia.

Despite the recent increase, US trade with Russia over the last five years is down 52.7%, with Russia slipping from number 20 to number 30 in the period.

Meanwhile, total US trade with the world increased to US$1.56tn, up US$7.15 compared to the same period last year. The nation’s exports climbed 6.5% to US$624.45bn, while imports rose 7.59% to US$936.93bn. The top five trading nation partners were, by value, Canada, China, Mexico Japan and Germany. The overall trade deficit was US$312.48bn, up from last year’s US$284.53bn for the same period.