The negative balance of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods in January-June 2021 decreased by 8.36%, to $1.25 billion with an increase in exports of almost 30.3%, to $29.97 billion, imports – by 28.4%, to $31.22 billion, according to data from the State Customs Service.
“Exports for the six months of 2021 grew by 30.27% compared to the first half of last year and amounted to $29.97 billion. But the main thing is an even smaller negative balance than last year. Some $1.25 billion – 8.36% less than last year,” Deputy Minister of Economy – Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka said on Facebook.
At the same time, the trade representative pointed out that, compared with the indicator for the first half of 2019, before the effect of the pandemic, exports for the first half of 2021 grew by 22%. As of July 1, 2019, foreign trade deficit was $3.16 billion.
“So we have two years of reduction in the negative balance by 60% (from $3.16 billion to $1.25 billion),” Kachka said.
Kachka also noted an increase in exports to the EU by 45% in January-June-2021, to $12.3 billion, and compared to the first half of 2019, the growth is 20%.
“Exports to China are also growing at a similar rate of 42.4% compared to the first half of last year, but compared to the first half of 2019, this is already a fantastic 175% (from $1.56 billion to $4.28 billion),” he said.
The trade representative also noted that according to the results of the first half of the year, Ukraine recorded a positive balance of trade with Turkey – $460 million, compared with a negative balance of $80 million in January-June 2020. At the same time, Ukraine during the specified reporting period of this year raised exports to Turkey by 51%, to $1.79 billion, which is explained by the boom in commodities in light of the economic recovery.
“But it’s worth paying attention to industrial goods (my favorite groups are 84 + 85, where all electrical and mechanical equipment is grouped). We traditionally have a negative balance for these groups. But exports in the first half of the year grew by 32%, to $2.4 billion. And this is also $366 million more than in the first half of 2019,” the official said.
He also drew attention to the growth of furniture exports by 56.2% compared to the first half of 2019 and by 73.6% compared to January-June 2020. Although, in general, this is a relatively small export item – for the six months of 2021, Ukraine exported furniture worth $510 million (94 product groups).
