In January–July 2026, Ukraine imported machinery, equipment, and vehicles worth $25.7 billion, accounting for more than 44% of the country’s total merchandise imports, according to the State Customs Service.
The second-largest category was fuel and energy products, with imports totaling $8.5 billion, followed by chemical industry products at $8 billion.
Collectively, these three commodity categories accounted for $42.2 billion, or about 73% of Ukraine’s imports over the seven-month period.
During customs clearance of machinery, equipment, and vehicles, 145.5 billion UAH in customs duties were paid to the state budget, accounting for 28% of the corresponding revenue.
Fuel and energy products accounted for 172.7 billion UAH, or 34% of customs duties, while chemical products accounted for 66.5 billion UAH, or 13%.
Thus, the three largest import categories accounted for about 75% of customs duties.
Total imports of goods into Ukraine in January–July rose by 26.6% compared to the same period last year—to $58.1 billion.
The largest supplier countries were China with $16.8 billion, Poland with $5.5 billion, and Germany with $3.8 billion.
Ukraine’s trade deficit in goods for January–July 2026 amounted to approximately $34 billion, compared to $22.7 billion for the same period in 2025, according to calculations based on data from the State Customs Service (SCS).
Thus, the merchandise trade deficit for the year increased by approximately $11.3 billion, or nearly 50%.
Imports of goods into Ukraine over the seven-month period rose by 26.6%—to $58.1 billion from $45.9 billion a year earlier—while exports increased by only 3.8%—to $24.1 billion from $23.2 billion.
The export-to-import ratio, calculated based on GTS data, fell to approximately 41.5% from 50.5% in January–July 2025.
The bulk of imports consisted of machinery, equipment, and transportation vehicles—$25.7 billion; fuel and energy products—$8.5 billion; and chemical industry products—$8 billion. Collectively, these three groups accounted for about 73% of total merchandise imports.
Food products remained the leading export category at $14.1 billion. Metals and metal products totaled $2.5 billion in exports, while machinery, equipment, and transportation vehicles totaled $2.1 billion.
The largest suppliers of goods to Ukraine were China ($16.8 billion), Poland ($5.5 billion), and Germany ($3.8 billion).
The main markets for Ukrainian exports were Poland ($2.8 billion), Turkey ($2 billion), and Germany ($1.5 billion).
From July 27 to August 2, Ukraine reduced electricity imports by 32.0% compared to the previous week—to 22,600 MWh—while exports rose by 49.6%—to 84,200 MWh, according to the DIXI Group analytical center, citing data from Energy Map.
“Thus, Ukraine has maintained its status as a net exporter for the fourth consecutive week: the volume of electricity supplied abroad exceeded imports by a factor of 3.7,” the center noted.
Last week’s export growth was driven by increased demand for electricity in European countries due to hot weather and competitive pricing conditions. Throughout the week, prices on Ukraine’s “day-ahead” (DAA) market remained lower than on the DAA markets of neighboring Eastern European countries.
According to Energy Map, Hungary accounted for the largest share of imports last month—7.8 thousand MWh, or 34.6%. Romania accounted for 6,900 MWh (30.4%), Slovakia for 5,900 MWh (26.3%), and Poland for 2,000 MWh (8.7%).
Exports, in turn, took place daily, and their daily volumes throughout the week were 2–6 times higher than imports.
Hungary also remained the main export destination, with 36.3 thousand MWh (43.1% of total exports) supplied there. Exports to Moldova totaled 25.8 thousand MWh (30.6%), to Romania – 18.9 thousand MWh (22.5%), to Slovakia – 3.1 thousand MWh (3.7%), and to Poland – 0.1 thousand MWh (0.1%).
Compared to the previous week, exports increased by 7–70% for most destinations.
Due to reduced availability of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the European market, Belgium switched entirely to importing this fuel from Russia in July, a move driven by supply disruptions and high gas prices, according to Bloomberg.
Total LNG shipments to Belgium in July fell by more than 40% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the country purchased about 0.4 million metric tons of this fuel from Russia, although the volume of Russian imports was lower than in early 2026.
One reason for the increased role of Russian LNG was disruptions in fuel supplies from the Middle East due to shipping problems in the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, most European buyers were postponing LNG purchases for winter stockpiles due to high gas prices.
“Europe received 16% more Russian LNG in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period the previous year, paying a total of 5.96 billion euros ($6.9 billion). The largest buyers were France, Belgium, and Spain,” the publication reports, citing data from the German nongovernmental organization Urgewald.
Low gas storage levels ahead of the winter season posed an additional challenge for Europe—they are the lowest for this period since records began in 2009.
According to Bloomberg, the last time Russia was the sole supplier of LNG to Belgium was in early 2021—before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and after European economies had begun to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In January–June 2026, Ukraine recorded a merchandise trade deficit with 37 of its 50 largest trading partners, according to calculations by the Experts Club information and analytical center based on foreign trade data.
Total trade turnover with the TOP 50 countries amounted to $66.97 billion. Imports reached $47.35 billion, exports totaled $19.62 billion, and the overall trade deficit stood at $27.73 billion.
The combined deficit in trade with the 37 countries from which imports exceeded exports amounted to $30.72 billion. A surplus of $2.99 billion with the remaining 13 partners partially offset this gap.
For comparison, according to official data from the State Customs Service, Ukraine’s total trade turnover in the first half of the year amounted to $70.3 billion, including $49.3 billion in imports and $21 billion in exports. Thus, the TOP 50 partners accounted for more than 95% of Ukraine’s foreign trade in goods.
The ten largest deficit-generating trade routes accounted for $41.78 billion in trade turnover. Ukraine imported $32.95 billion worth of goods from these countries while exporting only $8.83 billion. The deficit amounted to $24.12 billion, or approximately 87% of the net trade deficit with the TOP 50 partners.
The import coverage ratio by exports in this group was 26.8%. In other words, every dollar of Ukrainian exports corresponded to approximately $3.73 in imports.
The top five countries—China, Poland, Germany, the United States, and Türkiye—generated a deficit of $20.59 billion. This represented 74.3% of the net trade deficit with the TOP 50 partners.
China ranked first by a wide margin. Imports of Chinese products amounted to $13.9 billion, while exports of Ukrainian goods totaled only $778.4 million. The deficit reached $13.12 billion, or 47.3% of the total trade deficit with the TOP 50.
Exports covered only 5.6% of imports. Thus, the volume of Chinese supplies to Ukraine was almost 18 times greater than the flow of goods in the opposite direction.
According to the State Customs Service’s publicly available commodity breakdown, the leading categories of Chinese imports were electric batteries at $1.62 billion, transmission, television, and video equipment at $1.11 billion, fiber-optic products at $770.5 million, transformers and chokes at $720.8 million, and unmanned aerial vehicles at $684.4 million.
Significant volumes also included telephone and telecommunications equipment at $620.8 million, electric motors and generators at $589.8 million, computer equipment at $363.7 million, and semiconductor devices at $347.8 million.
Thus, the deficit with China is generated not by a single category but by a broad range of technological, energy, electronic, and consumer products.
Poland ranked second in terms of the trade deficit, at $2.29 billion. At the same time, trade with Poland was considerably more balanced than trade with China: Ukrainian exports covered 51% of imports, while Poland remained the largest individual market for Ukrainian products.
The largest disclosed category of imports of Polish origin was oil and petroleum products, totaling $904.6 million. These were followed by petroleum gases at $205.6 million, aircraft parts at $192 million, unmanned aerial vehicles at $133.9 million, compound fertilizers at $121.6 million, electricity at $114.4 million, and coke and semi-coke at $111 million.
The structure of these supplies indicates that Poland serves Ukraine not only as a trading partner but also as an important energy, industrial, and logistics hub.
Germany generated the third-largest deficit, at $1.94 billion. Ukrainian exports covered 39.5% of imports.
The main disclosed categories of German products were passenger cars at $347.6 million, medicines at $220.2 million, petroleum products at $151.9 million, crop-harvesting machinery at $115.3 million, soil cultivation equipment at $97.1 million, plant protection products at $93.5 million, and tractors at $84.3 million.
The trade deficit with the United States amounted to $1.9 billion, while exports covered only 23.6% of imports. The largest publicly available categories of US supplies were petroleum products at $436.6 million, passenger cars at $417.9 million, coal at $182.2 million, and telecommunications equipment at $155.3 million.
Imports from the United States also included tractors, ethylene polymers, petroleum gases, medicines, frozen fish, and electronic equipment. Production, transport, and energy goods accounted for a significant share of both US and German imports.
Türkiye ranked fifth, with a deficit of $1.34 billion. At the same time, the import coverage ratio by exports stood at 57.1%, the highest figure among the top five countries.
Radar and radio navigation instruments and remote-control apparatus, totaling $332.8 million, stood out in the publicly available commodity structure. Significant supplies also included rolled steel products, petroleum products at $110.1 million, citrus fruits at $83.3 million, electric generator sets at $73.1 million, sunflower seeds at $59.2 million, automotive components, vegetables, and other food products. Trade with Türkiye combines industrial products, technological equipment, metals, and foodstuffs, while the country remains one of the largest markets for Ukrainian exports.
The trade deficit with Greece amounted to $861.5 million. Oil and petroleum products accounted for almost $809 million in the publicly available commodity breakdown. Other categories included petroleum coke and bitumen at $38.1 million, petroleum gases at $36.4 million, and fertilizers at $35.1 million. The structure of the deficit with Lithuania, which reached $607.7 million, was similar. Petroleum products accounted for $576.1 million of disclosed imports, while petroleum gases accounted for $46.4 million. Ukraine also imported passenger cars, freight vehicles, petroleum coke, fertilizers, polymers, and animal feed.
Unlike China, where the deficit is distributed among numerous technological categories, the imbalance with Greece and Lithuania is largely associated with energy purchases.
The trade deficit with the Czech Republic amounted to $752.4 million. The main import categories included aircraft parts at $101.8 million, passenger cars at $101 million, electric generator sets at $96.6 million, batteries at $44.5 million, telecommunications equipment at $34.3 million, and coal at $32.3 million.
The trade deficit with Hungary reached $658.1 million. The publicly available structure of supplies was dominated by electricity at $349.9 million, petroleum gases at $157.4 million, passenger cars at $113.2 million, and cable products at $87.8 million.
The deficit with France amounted to $648.9 million. The largest categories were plant protection products at $120 million, medicines at $76.1 million, passenger cars at $72.5 million, trucks at $47.7 million, tractors at $39.9 million, and automotive components at $35.3 million. Supplies of sunflower and corn seeds, as well as cosmetic products, were also significant.
Immediately outside the top ten was Sweden, with a deficit of $606.9 million. Exports covered only 8.3% of imports. The main publicly available categories included petroleum products, passenger cars, medicines, and agricultural machinery.
The deficit with Taiwan amounted to $563.8 million, with Vietnam to $544.2 million, and with Japan to $496.9 million. The import coverage ratio by exports in trade with these countries ranged from only 3.8% to 5.8%. Supplies from Taiwan included unmanned aerial vehicles at $205.3 million, radar and navigation equipment at $58.4 million, integrated electronic circuits at $55 million, and navigation instruments at $47.6 million.
Imports from Vietnam included unmanned aerial vehicles at $132.7 million, telecommunications equipment at $108.7 million, computer equipment, rolled steel products, footwear, coffee, and fish products. Japanese imports were dominated by passenger cars at $302.5 million, as well as motorcycles, automotive components, printing, medical, and construction equipment.
The overall structure of purchases explains a significant part of the trade gap. According to the State Customs Service, machinery, equipment, and transport accounted for $21.3 billion of imports in the first half of 2026, fuel and energy products for $7.4 billion, and chemical industry products for $6.9 billion. Together, these three categories accounted for 72% of imported goods.
Thus, the deficit is not associated solely with the consumption of finished foreign products. A significant part of it is generated by purchases of energy resources, passenger cars, production equipment, electronics, batteries, generators, pharmaceutical products, agricultural machinery, and components.
“The trade deficit cannot be assessed exclusively as a negative indicator. Amid the war and large-scale reconstruction, a significant share of imports serves a critical or investment purpose. Ukraine purchases energy resources, generators, batteries, transport, industrial equipment, electronics, medicines, and components without which it would be impossible to maintain the functioning of the economy, energy sector, and infrastructure,” emphasized Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center.
At the same time, according to him, the concentration of the deficit creates risks of dependence on individual suppliers, increases demand for foreign currency, and demonstrates the insufficient presence of Ukrainian producers in key foreign markets.
“The problem arises when imports of finished products grow systematically while Ukrainian exports and domestic production fail to develop at a corresponding pace. Trade with China is particularly indicative, as Ukrainian exports cover less than 6% of imports. Such a disparity increases dependence on a single supplier and creates constant additional demand for foreign currency,” the economist stressed.
According to Urakin, the most realistic response lies not in mechanically restricting imports but in localizing the production of goods for which Ukraine has the necessary technological and resource prerequisites, developing industrial cooperation, expanding exports of processed goods, and encouraging foreign suppliers to establish production capacity within the country.
The production of energy equipment, battery systems, electrical equipment, automotive components, construction materials, agricultural machinery, highly processed food products, and certain types of chemical products holds particular potential.
The State Customs Service of Ukraine transferred UAH 420.1 billion in customs payments to the state budget in the first half of 2026, which is 31.9% more than in the same period last year, the Experts Club information and analytical center reports.
In January–June 2025, revenues amounted to UAH 318.5 billion. Thus, over the year, the budget received an additional approximately UAH 101.6 billion. The official data were published by the State Customs Service on July 13, 2026.
The Experts Club Analytical Center compared the State Customs Service’s data with the Ministry of Finance’s operational report on the execution of the state budget for January–June 2026.
Ranking of Customs Revenues by Main Categories
Value-added tax on goods imported into the customs territory of Ukraine remains the main source of customs revenues.
It accounted for approximately 75.7% of all payments transferred by the State Customs Service in the first half of the year. In other words, approximately three out of every four hryvnias of customs revenues were generated by import VAT.
The high share of VAT is explained by the fact that the tax is charged on virtually all taxable imports, including equipment, raw materials, fuel, cars, consumer goods and products intended for industrial use.
After deducting import VAT and customs duties from the total amount, approximately UAH 70.9 billion, or 16.9% of revenues, remains.
The main part of this amount should consist of excise duty on imported excisable goods, primarily petroleum products, cars, alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.
However, in its operational report, the Ministry of Finance indicated only the total excise tax revenues from domestically produced and imported goods — UAH 152.4 billion. The separate amount of import excise duty was not disclosed in the report. Therefore, the figure of UAH 70.9 billion is an estimate and may also include small amounts of other payments administered by customs authorities.
Revenues from import and export duties in the first half of the year amounted to UAH 31 billion, or approximately 7.4% of the total volume of customs payments.
The share of customs duties is significantly lower than that of import VAT because zero or reduced rates apply to many goods under Ukraine’s free trade agreements. In addition, certain categories of equipment, energy products and defense-related goods benefit from tax and customs exemptions.
Structure of Ukraine’s Customs Revenues
Thus, the approximate structure of the UAH 420.1 billion is as follows:
VAT on imported goods — UAH 318.2 billion, or 75.7%.
Import excise duty and other payments — approximately UAH 70.9 billion, or 16.9%.
Import and export duties — UAH 31 billion, or 7.4%.
The Experts Club calculation shows that Ukrainian customs primarily performs the function of administering import VAT. Customs duties themselves account for less than one-tenth of the total volume of revenues.
Cars Accounted for More Than 7% of All Payments
Imports of passenger cars brought UAH 32.1 billion to the state budget in the first half of the year. This corresponds to approximately 7.6% of all revenues transferred by the State Customs Service.
At the same time, petrol-powered cars alone generated UAH 14.6 billion, or approximately 3.5% of all Ukraine’s customs revenues for the six-month period.
Thus, payments from passenger car imports exceeded the total revenues from import and export duties across all product categories.
Large Importers Accounted for 85% of Revenues
In the first half of the year, customs payments were made by 28,300 foreign economic activity participants. Their number increased by 2.5% compared with January–June 2025.
At the same time, only 2,350 companies, or approximately 8% of all payers, accounted for 85% of revenues. Their combined contribution can be estimated at approximately UAH 357 billion.
Another 10,600 enterprises, each of which transferred between UAH 1 million and UAH 20 million, generated UAH 53.5 billion.
Approximately 15,300 representatives of small and medium-sized businesses paid up to UAH 1 million each. Their combined contribution amounted to almost UAH 4.8 billion.
This indicates a high concentration of customs revenues: the majority of revenues depend on a relatively small group of large importers of fuel, cars, machinery, raw materials, pharmaceuticals and consumer products.
Customs Accounted for More Than One-Fifth of General Fund Revenues
In January–June 2026, UAH 1.898 trillion was received by the general fund of Ukraine’s state budget. Customs payments amounting to UAH 420.1 billion were equivalent to approximately 22.1% of this amount.
Including the general and special funds, state budget revenues for the first half of the year amounted to UAH 2.52 trillion.
The 31.9% growth in customs revenues significantly outpaced the increase in the number of payers, which amounted to only 2.5%. This indicates that the main growth factors were an increase in the value of taxable imports, changes in the exchange rate, an increased tax burden on certain categories and higher payments from the largest companies.
The most comprehensive official source of detailed information by budget classification codes is the state Open Budget portal. The State Customs Service publishes the total volume of payments and the structure of payers, while the Ministry of Finance publishes the main tax categories. At the time this material was prepared, a separate comprehensive table from the State Customs Service showing the distribution of the UAH 420.1 billion across all types of payments in a single document had not been published.
