Ukraine’s imports of agricultural products up 19% in 2021

According to Ukrinform, this information was provided by Mykola Puhachov, deputy director of the National Scientific Centre “Institute of Agrarian Economics (IAE),” with reference to the State Customs Service, the IAE press service reports.

In 2021, the EU countries remained the main supplier of agricultural products to Ukraine. The total imports from these countries reached $4,217 million ($3,554 million in 2020). The share of products from the EU in the structure of last year’s total agricultural imports was 51.6%.

Puhachov noted that although purchases in other regions grew, the absolute and relative rates of imports from there were much lower. Imports of food products from Asia amounted to $1,533 million (18.7% of the total imports), Latin America – $634 million (7.8%), the CIS countries – $343 million (4.2%), and Africa – $342 million (4.2%).

Since 2017, Poland has retained the first place in the ranking of major suppliers of agricultural products to Ukraine. Last year, it sold $883 million worth of agricultural products to Ukraine, which is almost 7% more than in 2020 ($828 million), according to Puhachov.

Among other main importers to Ukraine were Germany ($586 million); Italy ($586 million); Turkey ($520 million); France ($351 million); the Netherlands ($334 million); Indonesia ($328 million); Norway ($314 million); the United States ($288 million); Spain ($264 million). In total, these 10 countries accounted for more than 54% of total imports to Ukraine in 2021.

The expert noted that the major agricultural products imported to Ukraine were fish and seafood ($874 million); fruits, berries and nuts ($835 million); alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages ($719 million); tobacco products ($602 million); various food products ($559 million); cocoa products ($442 million); vegetable oils ($378 million); seeds and oleaginous fruits ($376 million). These products accounted for about 59% of the value of imports of agricultural products to Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, Ukraine exported $27.9 billion worth of agricultural products and foodstuffs in 2021, which is almost 25% more than the record figure of 2020 ($22.4 billion).