Ukraine's economy grows by nearly 20%

Ukraine's second-quarter GDP grew 19.5% year-on-year, the highest quarterly growth the country has ever recorded.

The figures were released by the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. The high growth in the second quarter was due to the low base of the same period in 2022, when economic activity in the country declined sharply following the conflict with Russia.

Accordingly, in the second quarter of last year, the country's GDP fell sharply by 37.2%. In the second half of 2022, Ukraine's economy fell by a total of about 30%. The decline continued into the first three months of this year, with GDP falling by 10% in the first quarter.

Employees work at a Nova Poshta post office in Kiev. Photo: WSJ

Ukraine’s GDP has also been boosted by a surge in domestic consumption. Olena Bilan, chief economist at Kiev-based investment bank Dragon Capital, said people have become accustomed to the war. “Life goes on, and amid the troubles, people want to enjoy themselves by making purchases or going on vacation,” she said.

The National Bank of Ukraine expects the economy to grow by 2.9% this year. This forecast will be revised in October. The assessment of the economic outlook is important in the payment of GDP warrants, financial instruments issued by a country to raise funds from international investors or creditors, and are linked to the development of GDP.

Kiev must repay the debt if Ukraine's growth exceeds 3%. The government is currently seeking to settle its international debt by 2024, after a two-year moratorium imposed in August 2022 due to the military conflict.

Ukraine's Deputy Economy Minister Nadiia Bihun said the country has a strategy to stimulate high value-added industries, mainly processing enterprises, to develop the economy. "We are trying to increase the share of the processing industry from the current 10% to at least 20% of GDP," Bihun said.

Phien An ( according to RT, Ukrinform )

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