Ukraine

GDP/capita CAGR

4.2%

Unemployment (2021)

9.8%

Gini index (2020)

25.6

CO2/capita (2024)

3.1 t

Ukraine: strong, sustained growth, 1987–2025

Post-Soviet transition was slow and uneven through the 1990s and 2000s; Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and full-scale 2022 invasion caused severe economic contraction, mass displacement, and disrupted data reporting in affected regions. Between 1987 and 2025, Ukraine's GDP per capita grew from $1,244 to $5,866 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 4.2% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged -1.4% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 9.0 points, reflecting considerable volatility and periodic crises. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 20.8% to 7.6% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 29.9% to 61.0% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 69.8 to 74.7 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 41.2% to 87.2%, while the urban population share grew from 62.2% to 69.6%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions fell from 13.60 to 3.13 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) narrowed from 29.7 to 25.6; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 8.1% to 0.0%.

What it trades

Top exported and imported products, approximate share of total trade value.

Top exports

Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; ...14.6%

Cereals14.1%

Ores, slag and ash8.5%

Iron and steel8.4%

Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television ...7.0%

Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medicinal ...6.8%

Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal4.4%

Residues and waste from the food industries; prepared animal fodder4.1%

Meat and edible meat offal2.9%

Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; ...2.5%

Top imports

Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral ...13.4%

Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television ...12.1%

Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof10.7%

Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof9.8%

Commodities not elsewhere specified5.2%

Arms and ammunition; parts and accessories thereof4.6%

Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof3.6%

Plastics and articles thereof3.4%

Pharmaceutical products2.8%

Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical ...2.6%

Events shaping this economy

Central bank perspective

Why the charts below look the way they do, drawing on the country’s own central bank and monetary authority.

Leading companies in Ukraine

Naftogaz · Energy Privatbank · Banking Metinvest · Materials MHP · Agriculture Kernel · Agriculture