In September 2025, Ukraine exported 3.7 million tons of agricultural products, which is 6.5% less than in the previous month and 25% less than in the same period of 2024, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UAC).
“The two main reasons for this trend are the two- to three-week delay in harvesting compared to the same period last year and the introduction of duties on soybean and rapeseed exports, which significantly reduced shipments, in particular due to the lack of an established mechanism. Oilseed exports fell by 53%,” experts explained.
Analysts noted that the structure of exports in September 2025 was as follows: grain crops – 2.4 million tons (wheat – 86%, barley – 12%, corn – 2%), which is 1% less than the previous month; oilseeds – down 53% to 322.4 thousand tons (rapeseed – 73%, soybeans – 24%, flax – 2%); vegetable oils – up 48% to 313.3 thousand tons (sunflower oil – 53%, rapeseed – 35% and soybean – 12%); oilcake after extraction of vegetable oils – 281.0 thousand tons (sunflower – 62%, soybean – 38%), which corresponds to last year’s figure. Exports of other types of agricultural products increased by 5% to 340,000 tons.
“Next month, we expect an increase in exports of agricultural products due to an increase in the volume of late crops harvested and the optimization of soybean and rapeseed export processes,” the UACB concluded.
In January-July 2025, Ukraine exported agricultural and food products worth $5.73 billion to the European Union, which is $891 million, or 13%, less than in the same period last year, according to an EU report.
At the same time, Ukraine managed to maintain its fourth place in the list of suppliers of agricultural products to the EU during this period. Ahead of it are Brazil ($9.1 billion), the United Kingdom ($7.8 billion), and the United States ($6.9 billion).
The ranking of the largest suppliers of agricultural products to the EU also includes China ($5.24 billion), Côte d’Ivoire ($5.05 billion), Turkey ($3.68 billion), Vietnam ($2.81 billion), Argentina ($2.57 billion), and Switzerland ($2.51 billion).
In total, agricultural imports to the EU in January-July 2025 are estimated at $96.8 billion (+16%).
Agricultural exports from the EU during the same period amounted to $118.7 billion (+2%). At the same time, $2.1 billion (+17%) worth of goods were supplied to Ukraine.
Slovakia and a number of EU countries bordering Ukraine are advocating the creation of a special fund to compensate their farmers for losses caused by the growth in imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. This was announced by Slovak Minister of Agriculture Richard Takáč (Smer-SD) following a meeting of the EU Council on Agriculture in Brussels, according to the TASR news agency.
According to him, the European Commission had previously talked about a 25% increase in quotas for Ukrainian goods, but in reality the figures are much higher — “for honey and sugar, the increase is 400-500%.”
“One problem is quantity, another is product quality and safety. European farmers are required to comply with strict rules on fertilizers, pesticides, and EU standards, while in Ukraine such standards are often absent,” Takáč emphasized.
The minister noted that it was Ukraine’s neighboring countries, which experience the main influx of products, that approached the European Commission with this initiative, while Western European countries often benefit from cheaper imports and do not feel the pressure.
Takach suggested that Slovakia would not be able to “achieve 100% success” in the negotiations, but he is counting on a compromise solution.
“In the new EU financial plan and within the framework of the common agricultural policy, I see an opportunity to create a fund specifically for countries bordering Ukraine. This fund should compensate our farmers and processors for their losses,” he said, adding that Slovakia will seek support through the government and the prime minister.
According to him, agreements on this have already been reached with his Polish counterpart. The issue of increased quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products will also be discussed during the upcoming joint meeting of the governments of Ukraine and Slovakia.
Since 2022, the EU has provided Ukraine with unprecedented access to the common market to support the economy in wartime. However, a number of Eastern European countries — Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria — have repeatedly complained about the growing pressure on their producers of grain, sugar, and other crops.
Agricultural production in Ukraine in January-August 2025 decreased by 8.4% compared to January-August 2024, according to the State Statistics Service (SSS).
According to its data, during the reporting period, livestock production decreased by 9.7%, and animal husbandry by 4.9% compared to the same period in 2024.
At the same time, enterprises reduced production rates more actively than households – by 9.6% and 6.3%, respectively.
In January-August of this year, enterprises reduced crop production by 12.2% and livestock production by 2.4%, while households saw a 5.3% drop in crop production and an 8.6% drop in livestock production compared to the same period in 2024.
A significant drop in production was recorded in the Donetsk region, where production volume is only 53.6% of last year’s figure. A relatively significant decline was also recorded in the Kherson (72.2%), Dnipropetrovsk (78.5%), and Poltava (79.0%) regions.
At the same time, some regions are showing positive dynamics. Thus, production grew the most in Lviv region – up to 102% – and in Ivano-Frankivsk region – up to 100.6%.
In April 2025, Ukraine exported 4.1 million tons of agricultural products, which is 23.4% less than the same indicator of the previous month, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club.
“Such dynamics of export reduction is typical for this season. The vast majority of the grown products have already been exported, and there are still small volumes for export,” the analysts explained.
Experts noted that almost all groups of goods in April 2025 show a decline in exports. The only exception is vegetable oils, the export volumes of which are growing. This is due to the atypical situation on the Ukrainian sunflower oil market, whose production volumes were stretched over time this year.
According to them, in April 2025, the structure of agricultural exports was dominated by vegetable oils, which amounted to 525.8 mln tons, up 6% compared to the previous month. At the same time, sunflower oil accounted for 91% of exports, and soybean oil – 9%.
Grain exports decreased by 33% and amounted to 2.4 mln tons, with corn accounting for 65%, wheat – 32%, barley – 2%; oilseeds – by 3% to 421.2 thsd tonnes. tons (soybeans – 78%, rapeseed – 20% and flax – 1%), cake after extraction of vegetable oils – by 14% to 423.0 thousand tons (sunflower – 73%, soybean – 27%), other types of agricultural products – by 2% to 357.0 thousand tons.
In 2024, Ukraine increased its exports of agricultural products to the European Union by 11%, according to the EU’s report on trade in such products last year.
“The EU continued to import agricultural food products from various trading partners, with Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine being the main sources. Imports increased from Côte d’Ivoire, Ukraine and Nigeria, while they decreased from Russia and Australia,” the report, the full text of which is published on the European Commission’s website, says.
According to the published statistics, Ukraine was the third source of imports of agri-food products to the EU in 2024 (8% of the total value of imports). Agricultural imports from Ukraine to the EU increased by 11% compared to 2023 (+EUR1.3 billion) and reached EUR13 billion. This was mainly due to an increase in the share of two key commodities in imports: vegetable oils (EUR3 billion in 2024, +EUR946 million compared to 2023), and oilseeds and protein cereals (EUR3.1 billion, +EUR709 million).
At the same time, imports of Ukrainian grains to the EU decreased by 12% in value (to EUR 4.5 bln) due to lower prices, but their volume increased by 6% year-on-year.
At the same time, the total volume of European agricultural imports in 2024 reached a record high of EUR171.8 bln (+8% compared to 2023, or +EUR12.4 bln).
In terms of consumption of European agricultural exports, Ukraine ranks 13th with EUR3.634 billion, which is about 2% of the EU’s total agricultural exports (EUR235.4 billion). At the same time, in terms of consumption of European imported agricultural products, Ukraine showed an increase of 5% compared to 2023, when the country imported agricultural products worth EUR3.461 billion from the EU.
