The countries of the European Union and the United Kingdom remain the main foreign economic priority for Ukrainians: in August 2026, 69.9% of respondents noted the need for priority development of trade and economic relations with them. This is evidenced by the results of the third wave of the study "Attitudes of Ukrainians to the countries of the world", conducted by Active Group together with the information and analytical center Experts Club, reports the information and analytical center Experts Club.
At the same time, compared to previous waves of research, support for the European direction has decreased. In August 2025, 82.8% of respondents named EU countries and Great Britain, in March 2026 - 81.1%, and in August - 69.9%. Thus, the indicator decreased by 12.9 percentage points over the year.
The dynamics in relation to the USA are even more noticeable. In August 2025, the priority development of trade and economic relations with the United States was supported by 58.8% of respondents, in March 2026 by 59.2%, while in August the indicator was 11.9%. August last year. At the same time, China remains one of the most important trade partners of Ukraine, which demonstrates the discrepancy between the real structure of foreign trade and public perceptions of the desired directions of its development.
Another 5.5% of respondents in August advocated the priority deepening of economic relations with the countries of Southeast Asia — Japan, South Korea and other states of the region. In March, this figure was 49%, and a year earlier it was 21%. Countries of the Arab and Muslim world were named by 3.5% of respondents against 29.8% in March, African and South American countries — 0.8% against 19.6%.
The founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center Maksym Urakin emphasized the need for more active communication between international partners with Ukrainian society.
"It is necessary to regularly show concrete cases and concrete actions. Openness to the media and the public helps to strengthen relations, primarily trade relations," Urakin noted.
According to him, sociological research can be a practical tool for state institutions, diplomatic missions and businesses in determining the direction of development of bilateral relations.
Director of the research company Active Group Oleksandr Pozniy also drew attention to the need to strengthen the economic component of international cooperation.
"It is better to develop not only general awareness. Business and state structures need to work more actively on the development of bilateral relations," said Pozniy.
The research was conducted in August 2026 by the method of self-filling online questionnaires in the SunFlowerSociology panel. 800 citizens of Ukraine over the age of 18 were surveyed. The sample is representative by age, gender, and region, and the stated maximum theoretical error is ±3.5 percentage points. The previous waves of the study were conducted in August 2025 and March 2026.
