A Russian ruble coin is pictured with U.S. dollar bills in Moscow, on August 23, 2018. (AFP Photo)

MOSCOW, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Russia's trade surplus rose 69.5 percent year on year to 136.3 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2018, the Russian central bank said Tuesday.

The trade surplus resulted from "an improvement in the international pricing environment for the main Russian exports and a slowdown in the growth in imports," the bank said in a statement.

A month ago, the central bank said that the country's trade surplus increased 70.8 percent year on year in the first eight months to 119.9 billion U.S. dollars.

According to the central bank, Russia's current account surplus amounted to 75.8 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months this year, compared with 19.7 billion U.S. dollars in the same period last year.

Russia's international reserves gained 35.6 billion U.S. dollars in Jan.-Sept., primarily due to the acquisition of foreign currency to shield the economy from swings in oil prices and protect the country's reserves, it said.