Ukraine’s total trade turnover declined by 9.7% to $64.3 billion in the first eight months of 2020 compared to the same period of last year, the State Customs Service of Ukraine reported on Sept. 11.
Ukraine’s exports have reportedly decreased by 6% to $30.9 billion in January-August compared to the same period last year. Likewise, Ukraine’s imports declined by 12.4% to $33.3 billion.
The balance of trade in goods and services remained negative with Ukraine’s imports exceeding its exports by $2.4 billion – almost half the trade deficit during the same period in 2019.
Ukraine’s top trading partner, China, was Ukraine’s leading export destination as well as import source during the January-August period of this year. China exported $4.3 billion worth of products to Ukraine and imported $5.1 worth of products from Ukraine.
Other leading destinations for Ukrainian exports were Poland and Russia, valued at $2 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively.
Following China, Ukraine’s top import partners were Germany ($3.2 billion) and Russia ($2.9 billion).
Ukraine’s major export staples included the following raw materials: grain, ferrous metals, and sunflower oil. At the same time, Ukraine’s most common imports were refined petroleum, petroleum products, mineral commodities, various machinery and electrical utilities.
According to the World Bank, Ukraine’s trade-to-gross-domestic-product ratio, an indicator of the relative significance of international trade within an economy, was at 90% in 2019.
