China remained Ukraine’s main trading partner during the first six months of 2020, accounting for $6.6 billion in bilateral trade, according to Ukraine’s State Statistics Service.
Trade with China made up 14% of Ukraine’s overall global trade during that period, which constituted $47 billion. China has been holding the leading position since the first quarter of 2019, when it replaced Russia as Ukraine’s top trading partner.
According to the State Statistics Service report, Ukraine has trade relations with 220 countries. China, Russia and Poland remain as Ukraine’s leading export destinations, while China, Germany and Russia are leaders in Ukraine’s imports.
From January to June, Ukraine’s exports to China grew by 93% to $3 billion, compared to the same period of last year.
Moreover, Ukraine’s exports to South Korea grew by 89% to $252 million. At the same time, exports to Poland reduced by 14% to $1.5 billion and to Russia by 17%, reaching $1.3 billion.
Altogether, during the first six months of 2020, Ukraine exported $22.9 billion worth of goods, a 6.4% decline compared to last year, while it imported $24.2 billion worth of goods, a decrease by 14.3%. Overall, during the first half of 2020 Ukraine’s trade deficit was $1.3 billion.
Ukraine mostly exported raw materials such as agricultural products and basic metals. A large portion of Ukraine’s imports were various machinery, electrical utilities and mineral commodities.
