In the first half of 2026, Ukrainian exports of both goods and services continued to grow despite challenging external conditions. Goods exports increased by 5.1% year-on-year, while services exports rose by 6.9%. At the same time, imports grew considerably faster in both categories, resulting in a further widening of Ukraine’s foreign trade deficit.

Goods Exports: Moderate Growth Driven by Agricultural Products

In January–June 2026, Ukrainian goods exports reached USD 21.02 billion, compared with USD 20 billion in the first half of 2025, representing a 5.1% increase. Goods imports grew much faster, rising by 28.6% to USD 49.22 billion, compared with USD 38.27 billion a year earlier. As a result, the trade deficit in goods widened from USD 18.27 billion to USD 28.2 billion.

The structure of merchandise exports remained strongly concentrated in agricultural and food products. Cereals generated USD 4.71 billion, accounting for 22.4% of total goods exports, while fats and oils reached USD 3.61 billion, or 17.2%. Together, these two groups accounted for 39.6% of Ukraine’s total merchandise exports. Other major export groups included iron and steel, electrical machinery and equipment, and ores, slag and ash.

Key Growth Areas

Agricultural products were the main drivers of export growth during the period.

Corn recorded the largest increase, with exports rising by USD 676.65 million, or 26.1%, to USD 3.29 billion. Its share in total Ukrainian goods exports increased by 2.5 percentage points compared with the first half of 2025.

Vegetable oils also demonstrated positive dynamics. Exports of crude sunflower and safflower oil increased by USD 182.49 million, or 7.9%, while exports of crude rapeseed oil increased almost tenfold, reaching USD 179.03 million. Rapeseed and colza seed exports also grew by 69.3%, to USD 110.22 million.

Among non-agricultural products, semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel showed notable growth, increasing by USD 105.6 million, or 46.4%.

Prepared food products also strengthened their position. Exports of this category reached USD 2.1 billion, an increase of USD 209.4 million compared with the first half of 2025. Growth was supported, among other products, by other sugar and rapeseed and colza meal.

Furniture exports increased to USD 553.37 million, up by USD 58.27 million, while clothing and footwear exports reached USD 347.53 million.

Key Declines

At the same time, several important export positions recorded significant declines.

The largest reduction was registered for soybeans, with exports falling by USD 286.2 million, or 38.4%. Exports of iron ores and concentrates also decreased substantially: agglomerated ores fell by USD 217.84 million, while non-agglomerated ores declined by USD 117.14 million.

Exports of electric water heaters decreased by USD 56.8 million, or 45.3%, while exports of ferrous metal waste and scrap fell by 93.2%, equivalent to USD 51.86 million.

The decline in traditional industrial exports was also reflected at the sectoral level. Machinery and engineering exports decreased by USD 79.64 million to USD 1.8 billion, while metallurgy declined by USD 101.32 million to USD 2.16 billion. In contrast, the food industry, furniture, and clothing and footwear recorded growth.

Geography of Goods Exports

In the first half of 2026, Ukrainian goods were exported to 194 countries, compared with 197 countries in the same period of 2025.

Poland remained Ukraine’s largest export market, accounting for 11.3% of total goods exports, or USD 2.37 billion. Türkiye ranked second with USD 1.78 billion and an 8.5% share.

The top five export destinations also included Italy with USD 1.28 billion, Germany with USD 1.26 billion, and Spain with USD 1.09 billion. The Netherlands, China, Egypt, Romania, and Hungary were also among Ukraine’s ten largest export markets.

Services Exports: Growth Led by IT and Transport

Ukraine’s services exports continued to expand in the first half of 2026. Exports reached USD 8.08 billion, up by USD 520 million, or 6.9%, compared with USD 7.56 billion in the first half of 2025.

Services imports also increased, from USD 11.37 billion to USD 12.21 billion. As a result, the negative balance in services trade widened from USD 3.81 billion to USD 4.13 billion, while the export-to-import coverage ratio stood at 0.66, compared with 0.67 a year earlier.

Structure of Services Exports

Computer services remained the largest individual category, generating USD 3.34 billion and accounting for 41.4% of total services exports. Technical services, trade-related services and other business services ranked second, with USD 835 million and a 10.3% share. Together, these two categories accounted for 51.7% of Ukraine’s services exports.

The largest positive contribution to services export growth came from road freight transport, whose exports increased by USD 139 million, or 61%, reaching USD 367 million.

Computer services increased by USD 133 million, or 4.1%. Professional and management consulting services grew by USD 89 million, or 16.9%, while air freight transport increased by USD 45 million, or 29.8%. Research and development services also recorded significant growth, increasing by USD 40 million, or 40.8%.

At the same time, exports of pipeline transport services decreased by USD 82 million, other freight transport by USD 78 million, other road transport by USD 52 million, passenger air transport by USD 37 million, and telecommunications services by USD 23 million.

Telecommunications, Computer and Information Services

Telecommunications, computer and information services remained the largest aggregated category of Ukraine’s services exports, reaching USD 3.42 billion. This represented an increase of USD 141 million, or 4.3%, compared with the first half of 2025. However, its share declined from 43.3% to 42.3%.

Computer services accounted for the overwhelming majority of this category. Their exports increased to USD 3.34 billion, while information services more than doubled from USD 25 million to USD 56 million. In contrast, telecommunications services declined from USD 41 million to USD 18 million.

Geography of Computer Services Exports

Ukrainian computer services were exported to 41 countries in the first half of 2026.

The United States remained the largest market, accounting for USD 1.23 billion, or 36.9% of total Ukrainian computer services exports. Other major destinations included Malta with USD 279.9 million, the United Kingdom with USD 267.1 million, Cyprus with USD 250.1 million, and Switzerland with USD 123.9 million.

The United States also made the largest positive contribution to the growth of computer services exports, with an increase of USD 98.6 million, or 8.7%. Significant growth was also recorded in exports to the UAE, Cyprus, Estonia and Poland.

Conclusions

In the first half of 2026, Ukrainian exports of goods and services demonstrated resilience and recorded year-on-year growth. Goods exports increased to USD 21.02 billion, while services exports reached USD 8.08 billion.

Positive trends:

• Agricultural products remained the main driver of merchandise exports. Corn, vegetable oils, rapeseed and prepared food products made a significant contribution to export growth.

• Food processing strengthened its position. The increase in exports of prepared food products, furniture, and clothing and footwear indicates continued growth in selected higher-value segments.

• Services exports maintained positive momentum. Computer services remained the backbone of Ukraine’s services exports, while road freight, professional services, and R&D services recorded strong growth.

• The United States remained the key market for Ukrainian computer services, accounting for more than one-third of their exports.

Sources: State Customs Service of Ukraine — goods export data; National Bank of Ukraine — services export data. Services data for April–June 2026 are preliminary.