Trade deficit of Ukraine continues to grow: customs released new figures

Following the results of January-September 2026, the foreign trade deficit of Ukraine in goods reached approximately 45.5 billion dollars. Imports exceeded exports by more than 2.5 times, and the gap between them continued to widen. Ukraine mostly purchases machinery, transport, and fuel and energy products abroad, while food remains the mainstay of exports.

This is evidenced by data from the State Customs Service, released on October 14.

Ukraine’s total trade turnover for nine months was almost 104.7 billion dollars. At the same time, the country imported goods worth more than 75.1 billion dollars and exported almost 29.6 billion dollars.

For comparison, in January-August 2026, merchandise imports were almost 66.3 billion dollars, and exports were more than 26.6 billion dollars. The deficit then was estimated at about 39.7 billion dollars.

Thus, in September alone, the accumulated year-to-date gap between imports and exports increased by approximately 5.8 billion dollars.

According to calculations based on rounded customs data, Ukraine imported goods worth about 8.8 billion dollars in September, while exports amounted to about 3 billion dollars.

The negative trade balance in goods remains one of the main structural imbalances of the Ukrainian economy. The value of foreign goods entering the Ukrainian market significantly exceeds the revenue from the sale of Ukrainian products abroad.

China remains the largest supplier of goods

According to the State Customs Service, the largest import volumes for nine months of 2026 came from three countries:

• China – almost 22.6 billion dollars;
• Poland – more than 7.1 billion dollars;
• Germany – more than 4.9 billion dollars.

China accounts for about 30% of all Ukraine’s merchandise imports. The value of Chinese supplies exceeds the combined imports from Poland and Germany.

At the same time, Poland remains the main market for Ukrainian goods. In nine months, Ukraine exported products to this country worth almost 3.7 billion dollars.

Second place went to Turkey with exports exceeding 2.2 billion dollars, and third to Germany, where Ukrainian goods worth almost 2.1 billion dollars were delivered.

Therefore, Poland and Germany are simultaneously among the top three partners of Ukraine in both imports and exports.

Machinery, transport, and fuel make up the bulk of imports

More than 73% of the value of imported goods for January-September came from three main categories.

The largest share was machinery, equipment, and vehicles – almost 34.4 billion dollars. This is about 46% of total imports.

During customs clearance of these products, almost 191.5 billion hryvnias were paid to the state budget. This is about 29% of all customs payments.

The second most valuable category was fuel and energy products, whose imports exceeded 10.8 billion dollars. At the same time, this group provided the largest customs revenues – more than 224.9 billion hryvnias, or about 34% of the total.

Third place was taken by chemical industry products. They were imported in excess of 10 billion dollars, and the corresponding customs payments amounted to almost 83 billion hryvnias – about 13% of total revenues.

Overall, these three groups accounted for more than 55 billion dollars of imports and almost three-quarters of customs payments.

Food provides the majority of Ukrainian exports

The structure of Ukraine’s exports remains much more concentrated.

The largest category was food products, which were exported in the amount of almost 17 billion dollars for nine months. This is more than half of the total value of Ukrainian merchandise exports.

The top three export categories also included:

• metals and articles thereof – almost 2.9 billion dollars;
• machinery, equipment, and transport – almost 2.7 billion dollars.

Together, these three categories provided approximately 22.6 billion dollars of export revenue, or more than three-quarters of Ukrainian merchandise exports.

Comparison of the structure of imports and exports shows a significant difference: Ukraine mainly purchases machinery, transport, equipment, and energy products abroad, while the largest part of foreign exchange revenue from exports comes from the sale of food.

Taxable imports exceeded $52 billion

According to the State Customs Service, the value of taxable imports for January-September was 52.8 billion dollars – about 70% of all imported goods.

The average tax burden per kilogram of taxable imports was 0.62 dollars.

In addition, over nine months, during customs clearance of export goods subject to export duty, almost 1.5 billion hryvnias were paid to the state budget.

The published figures confirm further increase in the accumulated merchandise deficit during 2026. At the same time, they reflect only trade in goods and do not account for exports and imports of services, including IT, transport, and financial.

Based on materials: State Customs Service of Ukraine, Курс України.