Who are Ukraine’s largest trading partners

Since its independence from the former USSR in 1991, Ukraine has consistently shifted towards western trading partners, especially as conflicts with Russia escalated in the 2010s. After years of negotiations, the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (AA/DCFTA) was signed between Ukraine and the EU in 2014, facilitating free trade  by reducing the country’s dependence on trade with Russia. Once, Ukraine was one of the most important economic centers of the former Soviet Union and had long been the USSR’s breadbasket due to its fertile soil and strong agricultural industry.

Although it has slowly moved away from Russia, the value of trade between the two countries peaked in 2011 at $49.2 billion and has since fallen by as much as 85 percent to $7.2 billion. During this time, European countries such as Poland and Germany surpassed Russia in trade value with Ukraine, and in 2021, trade with the EU amounted to over $58 billion.

International Trade

Ukraine’s trade exchange with other countries around the world totaled $102.9 billion in 2020, accounting for about 65 percent of Ukraine’s GDP, and according to data from the IMF and UN Comtrade, Ukraine’s largest trading partner in 2020 was China, with a trade value of $15.3 billion, which is double the value of any other trading partner of Ukraine.

Germany ($7.4 billion), Poland ($7.4 billion), and Russia ($7.2 billion) were the next three largest trading partners of Ukraine, with the largest portion of Ukraine’s trade with these countries consisting of imports.

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photo Visualcapitalist

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Ukraine’s Largest Exports and Imports

The strong Ukrainian agricultural industry accounted for 35 percent of Ukraine’s exports in 2020, with a total value of $17 billion. The most exported products were grains, animal and vegetable oils, and seed oils.

The other two cornerstones of Ukraine’s industry and exports are iron ore and steel, along with refined electrical machinery, equipment, and other mechanical devices. In 2020, the export of raw iron and steel along with their refined products amounted to $13 billion, which accounted for more than a quarter of Ukraine’s exports.

Ukrainian imports primarily relate to vehicles, machinery, and fuels needed to operate them. As energy consumption in the country exceeds domestic energy production, mineral fuels and oils were Ukraine’s largest imports in 2020, amounting to  $7.42 billion.

Primarily importing from Belarus, Russia, and Germany, Ukraine’s energy needs have significantly worsened due to the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, which held 80 percent of Ukraine’s oil and natural gas reserves in the Black Sea.

The Impact of War on Ukraine’s Future Trading Partners

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is rapidly reshaping international relations and trading partners for both countries. Combining the likely collapse of Ukrainian-Russian trade with China’s lack of condemnation of Russian actions, it appears that Ukrainian trade will continue to shift towards the European Union and its western allies. While it is impossible to predict the outcomes of this conflict and its effects on international trade, the countries that support Ukraine’s defense today are likely to become Ukraine’s main trading partners in the future.

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photo Visualcapitalist

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