According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in 2024 Ukraine ranked 9th in the world in wheat production, producing about 23.4 million tons of grain. This information is presented in a new study by Experts Club, based on FAOSTAT statistics and the video “Wheat Production by Country (1991–2024)”.
The top three wheat producers remain traditionally stable:
China — 136 million tons,
India — 113.9 million tons,
Russia — 81.6 million tons.
These three countries account for nearly half of global wheat production and play a crucial role in the world’s agricultural system.
They are followed by:
United States — 53.6 million tons,
France — 35.9 million tons,
Canada — 35.9 million tons,
Australia — 34.1 million tons,
Pakistan — 31.4 million tons,
Ukraine — 23.4 million tons,
Germany — 21.5 million tons.
The second ten producers are opened by Turkey (19 million tons) and Kazakhstan (18.6 million tons), with Italy (6.9 million tons) closing the list.
The Experts Club video analysis demonstrates significant structural changes in global wheat production over the past three decades. The video covers the period from 1991 to 2024. During this time, China and India have almost doubled their production thanks to increased yields and consistent government support for the agricultural sector.
Russia and Ukraine, after a sharp decline in the 1990s, made a remarkable recovery: in the early 1990s, Ukraine produced around 15 million tons, while by 2024 the volume had increased to 23–24 million tons — despite war-related risks and export restrictions.
Kazakhstan, traditionally focused on exports, has maintained its position, supplying grain to Central Asia and parts of China.
Despite military actions and damage to part of its infrastructure, Ukraine remains one of the world’s leading wheat exporters. The main factors behind this are high yields in southern and central regions, improved logistics through Danube ports, and export routes via Romania and Bulgaria.
According to FAO, in 2024 Ukraine exported about 17 million tons of wheat, keeping the country among the three largest global grain suppliers, along with Russia and the United States.
Experts from Experts Club note that growth in production across Asia and CIS countries compensates for declining yields in Europe and North America, which are affected by droughts and climate change. At the same time, Turkey, Iran, and Egypt are strengthening their roles as regional centers of processing and import.
Global markets expect wheat prices to stabilize within the range of 230–250 USD per ton, provided there are no new geopolitical shocks.
“Ukraine’s position in the TOP-10 global wheat producers is a testament to the resilience of its agricultural sector, even during wartime. With the expansion of domestic processing, Ukraine can reach 25–27 million tons of production in the coming years and strengthen its place among the world’s top five exporters.
At the same time, the grain market is becoming increasingly technology-driven: digitalization of agribusiness, precision farming, and climate-resilient wheat varieties will determine leadership in the next decade,” said Maksym Urakin, co-founder of the analytical center Experts Club.
Ukraine remains one of the few countries where the agricultural sector accounts for about 40% of foreign currency earnings. In 2024, wheat ranked second in export volume after corn, and revenues from grain sales exceeded 6 billion USD.
According to Experts Club forecasts, if the pace of infrastructure recovery continues and weather conditions remain favorable, Ukraine’s wheat production may reach 25 million tons in 2025, and exports could exceed 18 million tons.
The study was prepared by the analytical center Experts Club based on data from FAOSTAT, USDA, and IGC.
The video analysis “Wheat Production by Country 1991–2024” is available on the Experts Club Ukraine YouTube channel.
AGRICULTURE, EXPERTS CLUB, EXPORT, FAO, GLOBAL PRODUCTION, UKRAINE, WHEAT
In January-September of this year, Ukrainian enterprises increased their consumption of rolled metal products by 39.49% compared to the same period last year, to 3 million 164.5 thousand tons.
According to a press release from the Ukrmetallurgprom association, 1 million 239.5 thousand tons, or 37.17% of the domestic market for rolled metal consumption, were imported during this period.
According to Ukrmetallurgprom, in the first nine months of 2025, metal companies produced 4.843 million tons of rolled metal (100.4% compared to the same period in 2024), of which, according to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, 2.918 million tons, or 60.3%, were exported. In January-September 2024, the share of exports was 68.9% (3.323 million tons with a total production of rolled metal products of 4.821 million tons).
The share of semi-finished products in export deliveries in January-September 2025 is 32.59%, which is significantly lower than in January-September 2024 (46.98%). The share of flat products in export deliveries in January-September 2025 significantly exceeds the figure for January-September 2024 (44.24% and 39.00%, respectively). The share of long products is also significantly higher than in January-September 2024 (23.17% in 2025 versus 14.02% in 2024).
The structure of imports in January-September 2025 continues to be characterized by the significant dominance of flat rolled products over long products (67.14% and 21.28%, respectively); in January-September 2024, the dominance of flat rolled products over long products was also significant (79.37% and 19.19%, respectively).
“In the first nine months of 2025, the domestic market capacity was 3,164,500 tons of rolled metal, of which 1,239,500 tons, or 39.17%, were imports. In January-September 2024, the domestic market capacity was 2,425,100 tons, of which 927,100 tons, or 38.23%, were imported. Thus, in January-September 2025, there was a 39.49% increase in the capacity of the domestic market compared to January-September 2024, with a simultaneous increase in the share of imports by 0.94%,” the press release states.
According to the State Customs Service, the main export markets for Ukrainian rolled metal products in the first nine months of this year were the European Union (79.9%), other European countries (8.9%), and the CIS (6.2%).
Among metallurgical importers in January-September 2025, other European countries ranked first (50.3%), followed by the EU-27 (22.5%) and Asian countries (20.7%).
As reported, Ukraine’s rolled metal market in 2024 shrank by 6.26% compared to the previous year, to 3 million 288.4 thousand tons, while in 2023 it increased 2.19 times compared to 2022, to 3 million 505.6 thousand tons.
The cost of housing construction since the beginning of 2025 has increased on average by 10-25% depending on the class of housing, the main factors of growth were the rise in the cost of construction materials and logistics, as well as the increase in wages in the industry, Ukrainian developers told the agency “Interfax-Ukraine”.
“The cost of construction in 2025 continues to rise, and this has already become a systemic phenomenon rather than a temporary challenge. Since the beginning of the year, costs have risen by 10-15% on average, depending on the class of housing. Among the key factors are the rise in the price of construction materials, increased logistics costs, currency fluctuations, shortage of qualified personnel and salary increases,” the press service of City One Development told the agency.
According to the company, prices for construction materials since the beginning of 2025 show a moderate growth of 10% on average. Thus, the price of concrete has increased by 6%, metal – more than 2%, cement – more than 10%, plaster – more than 13%, and bricks have risen in price by more than 9%. At the same time, the phase of a sharp price jump in the market of construction materials has already passed, the developer believes.
“We recorded the most significant price increase compared to the pre-war period in 2024. Then the price of metal rose by 21%, concrete – by 47%, bricks – by 10%. Such dynamics indicates that the market has already passed the phase of a sharp price jump, and the current growth is a gradual correction rather than a new shock,” the company said.
According to the press service of Alliance Novobud, concrete and rebar have increased in price by approximately 5-7% since the beginning of the year, waterproofing materials – by 7-10%, cable products by 10-15%. In addition, insulation and reinforced concrete products have significantly increased in price – up to 25%, PVC windows – by almost 20%, heating radiators – by 23.5%.
“We can note an increase in the cost of building materials in the range of 7-25%, which is caused by exchange rate fluctuations on the import component, logistics costs due to the war and change of routes and devaluation of the hryvnia”, – explained the developer.
In addition, the prices for almost all types of construction and installation works have increased: since the beginning of the year the growth amounted to 15-25%, noted in Alliance Novobud.
According to the information of Ramil Mehdiyev, CEO of Enso Company, engineering systems and finishing materials have risen in price the most. At the same time, the expert noted that prices for certain locally produced building materials remain stable.
In turn, DIM Construction Director Vladimir Zhigman noted that construction materials, which depend on imported components, energy costs in production or logistics, have gone up in price the most.
“The rise in the price of concrete mixes, reinforcement, insulation and engineering solutions is the result of broken chains, not just inflation. The materials that have risen in price the most are those that rely on imports, energy costs in production or delivery. For example, basic materials are increasingly imported, and logistics have lengthened – the time to order materials has increased by one and a half to two times,” he explained.
According to the expert, if in pre-war 2021 the share of imported building materials in the construction market of Ukraine amounted to 14%, then by the middle of 2025 it has increased to about 30%. Prices for foreign materials are largely unchanged, while Ukrainian manufacturers are forced to raise prices for their products due to relocation, suspension and limitation of production due to the war.
Now Ukraine is fully dependent on imported glass, which has increased in price by 10-20%, said Avalon commercial director Oleksandr Baryliuk. According to him, there are no prerequisites for a decrease in the cost of building materials, although due to the recession in Europe certain imported products may become cheaper.
“Glass has increased in price most of all. Ukraine is fully dependent on imported raw materials from Europe. Additionally, manufacturers often artificially create shortages during the season of peak demand, which raises the cost even more. As a result, glass has risen in price by 10-20% and remains one of the most unstable materials for construction,” he explained.
Rising prices for construction materials and construction works are one of the main contributors to the rising cost of housing construction, confirmed developer RIEL.
“More resource is needed to realize projects today. This is due to the rising cost of materials and construction and installation works. The cost of a square meter in a new building in Lviv and Kiev in 2025 increased by 25% compared to 2021”, – reported his experts.
In addition, the cost of construction was also affected by the increase in wages in the construction industry.
“It is in 2025, the figures have not changed significantly – by 5-7% since the beginning of the year, but compared to the beginning of 2024, the growth is 15-18%. This is affected by the increase in the wage fund, the cost of materials and operation of machinery – in general everything has gone up in price,“ added Maxim Odintsov, development director of the Odessa construction company ”Two Academics”.
Over the past seven days, the cryptocurrency market has experienced significant volatility — panic selling, record liquidations of leveraged positions, further recovery, and new records. Here are the main trends, facts, and forecasts from Fixygen:
On Friday, one of the largest sell-offs in recent times took place: according to media reports, more than $19 billion in cryptocurrency positions were liquidated under the influence of news about US tariff measures against China. Bitcoin, which had previously risen to $125–126 thousand, underwent a correction and decline.
Simultaneously with the correction, data appeared on record inflows into global cryptocurrency ETFs — $5.95 billion in a week. This indicates that institutional players remain interested in digital assets even amid volatility.
Amid uncertainty in the financial markets, gold set a new record, surpassing the $4,000/ounce level.
This reinforces the argument about the role of traditional assets as “safe havens” during financial market turmoil.
Bitcoin: after a correction, it held support below $110,000, but during the week, it recovered to levels around $114,000–$122,000. Ether (ETH): fell by about 4–5% on a weekly basis amid corrective sentiment. Altcoins: some coins from the protocol segment showed high volatility — strong rebounds, changes in dominance. At the same time, BTC (BTC.D) dominance increased: investors temporarily returned to a more “reliable” asset due to pressure on altcoins.
What lies ahead? Most likely, further volatility. If uncertainty continues, investors may again move towards BTC or stablecoins, leaving altcoins behind. If US or EU regulators make positive decisions, this could give the market new momentum.
Experts predict that frequent “shiny” rises will be followed by sharp declines — players should be prepared for smooth entry/exit.
IC “Express Insurance” (Kiev) in January-September 2025 collected insurance premiums in the amount of UAH 881,8 million, which is UAH 205,4 million or 30,4% more than in the same period of 2024, the insurer’s website reports.
Premiums under hull insurance contracts for this period reached UAH 587,9 mln, which by UAH 57,3 mln, or by 10,8%, exceeded the indicator of January-September 2024, under CMTPL insurance – UAH 274,9 mln (+116%), under other types of insurance – UAH 18,1 mln (+3,6%).
The Company informs that in January-September 2025 the total volume of insurance indemnities on insured events amounted to UAH 365,2 mln. Including payments to clients under CASCO – UAH 287.5 mln, victims under MTPL – UAH 71.9 mln.
As reported, as of July 1, 2025 the assets of IC “Express Insurance” amounted to more than one billion UAH, which is by 180,9 million UAH more than in the same period of 2024, their share in cash amounted to 88%, which ensures the operational ability of the company to pay compensation for insurance events.
IC “Express Insurance” was founded in 2008 and is a part of the group of companies “UkrAVTO”. It specializes on automobile insurance. Stable high speed of events settlement in IC is provided by optimal interaction with partner service stations.
The Bundestag has decided by majority vote to cancel the so-called “accelerated” (turbo) citizenship procedure introduced in June 2024. 450 deputies voted in favor of the abolition, 134 against and 2 abstained.
Under the terms of the previous scheme, foreigners could apply for naturalization after only three years of residence upon demonstration of “special integration” – command of the German language at the C1 level, outstanding achievements in studies, volunteering or professional activities. However, only a few people have been able to take advantage of the scheme: in 2024, it was used to naturalize dozens of people in German states such as Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg, where 20 and 16 cases were registered respectively.
The “turbo citizenship” was originally initiated by the center-left SPD-Greens-SVD (“traffic light”) coalition, but after its collapse and the advent of the CDU/CSU coalition with the SPD, new Chancellor Friedrich Merz succeeded in getting this part of the reforms reversed. The coalition agreement retained the rest of the reforms – such as the right to dual citizenship for non-EU citizens and the reduction of the naturalization period from eight to five years – but the fast-track scheme was eliminated.
Despite the changes in civil policy, Germany remains a key host country for migrants and asylum seekers. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Germany received 230,000 initial asylum applications in 2024.
According to the UNHCR (at the end of 2023), there were almost 3 million refugees in Germany, of which more than 1.2 million Ukrainians who were granted temporary protection status.
The abolition of accelerated naturalization may be the government’s response to societal concerns about increased migration and pressure on social services, especially in the context of changes in migration policy and increased integration requirements.
http://relocation.com.ua/germany-withdraws-accelerated-naturalization-of-foreigners/
