Ukraine's total trade turnover with the 50 largest trading partners in January-June 2026 amounted to about $66.97 billion, according to calculations by the Experts Club information and analytical center based on data on foreign trade in goods. Imports from the countries included in the top fifty reached $47.35 billion, while Ukrainian exports amounted to $19.62 billion. The negative balance was formed at the level of $27.73 billion. Therefore, imports provided about 70.7% of trade turnover with the main partners, and the share of exports was only 29.3%. The coefficient of coverage of imports by exports was equal to 41.4%, that is, for every dollar of Ukrainian goods sold abroad, there were approximately $2.41 of imports.
These indicators do not characterize the entire foreign trade of Ukraine, but its most concentrated part - transactions with 50 leading partners. At the same time, it is this group that determines the main geographical and structural trends of Ukrainian trade in goods. The ratio of imports and exports shows that the economy continues to generate significant demand for foreign industrial, technological and consumer products, while the opportunities of Ukrainian manufacturers to compensate for these purchases with export revenues remain limited. This model is partly explained by the needs of wartime, the restoration of damaged infrastructure, the import of energy equipment, vehicles, machines, electronics and components. However, the scale of the gap also indicates insufficient diversification of exports and high dependence on several traditional product groups.
"Concentration of more than half of the turnover in five countries makes foreign trade sensitive to changes in economic conditions, logistics and trade policies in individual markets Dependence on Chinese imports remains particularly noticeable: China provides more than a fifth of turnover with TOP-50 partners, but the share of Ukrainian exports in this direction is relatively small," emphasized the founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center Maksym Urakin.
Compared to the results for January-May, the accumulated turnover with TOP-50 partners increased by $11.73 billion, or by 21.2%. Directly in June, imports from this group of countries amounted to about $8.51 billion, while exports - $3.22 billion. Thus, in just one month, the negative trade balance increased by another $5.28 billion. Imports in June grew slightly faster than exports: after adding monthly data, its accumulated volume increased by 21.9%, while exports - by 19.7%. This means that the expansion of foreign trade turnover occurred mainly due to the purchase of goods abroad, and not due to the proportional strengthening of the positions of Ukrainian suppliers in foreign markets.
China has retained the status of the largest trade partner of Ukraine with a significant margin from other countries. In the first half of the year, trade turnover with China reached $14.68 billion, of which $13.9 billion went to imports of Chinese goods and only $778.4 million to Ukrainian exports. The negative balance amounted to $13.12 billion. China accounted for 21.9% of all turnover of Ukraine with TOP-50 partners and 29.4% of imports from this group of countries. At the same time, the Chinese direction formed about 47.3% of the total trade deficit of Ukraine with the top fifty. This disparity shows that China is primarily a source of goods, equipment and components for Ukraine, while Ukrainian export presence on the Chinese market remains relatively weak.
Poland took second place with a turnover of $7.05 billion. Ukraine imported Polish products for $4.67 billion and exported $2.38 billion, resulting in a deficit of $2.29 billion. Despite the negative balance, the Polish direction is more balanced than the Chinese one, and Poland simultaneously became the largest single market for Ukrainian exports. The third position with a turnover of $4.9 billion was taken by Turkey, which purchased Ukrainian goods for $1.78 billion and delivered products to Ukraine for $3.12 billion. Germany was in fourth place with an indicator of $4.48 billion, the United States was in fifth place with $3.07 billion. The total turnover with these five countries was $34.18 billion, or 51% of the turnover from the TOP-50. At the same time, they accounted for 57.8% of imports, but only 34.6% of Ukrainian exports, which once again emphasizes the concentration of purchases on a few large suppliers.
"More than half of Ukraine's trade with its main partners is provided by only five countries, and this concentration is much more pronounced in imports than in exports. The most revealing is trade with China, which accounts for almost a third of imports from the TOP-50, but less than 4% of Ukrainian exports to this group of countries. Such a structure creates a long-term need not just to reduce imports, but to develop own production and create new competitive export offers," Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center, emphasized.
Italy, which ranked sixth, had one of the most balanced performances among the leading partners. With a turnover of $2.65 billion, imports from Italy amounted to $1.37 billion, and Ukrainian exports - $1.28 billion, so the deficit did not exceed $91.1 million. Hungary followed with a turnover of $1.89 billion, the Netherlands - $1.82 billion, the Czech Republic - $1.77 billion and Slovakia - $1.64 billion. In total, the top ten accounted for $43.95 billion, or 65.6% of turnover from the TOP-50. The first 20 partners already secured $55.81 billion, or 83.3%. Therefore, the remaining 30 countries of the rating accounted for less than 17% of the turnover, which indicates a rather narrow geographical basis of the main commodity flows of Ukraine.
An important feature of the rating remains the significant role of the European Union states. The TOP-50 included 20 EU countries, the total turnover of which amounted to about $32.61 billion, or 48.7% of the total indicator of the first fifty. Imports from these countries reached $20.76 billion, and Ukrainian exports - $11.85 billion. Thus, the European Union accounted for almost 44% of imports and more than 60% of exports of Ukraine within the TOP-50. This means that the EU remains the main market for Ukrainian goods and, at the same time, a key source of industrial and consumer products. The negative balance of trade with the countries of the European Union represented in the rating was about $8.91 billion, but the imbalance in this direction was much smaller than in trade with China.
In terms of geography, the European direction performs several functions for Ukraine at once. Poland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain are major sales markets, Central European states provide transit and industrial cooperation, and Western European countries remain important suppliers of technology, equipment, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and chemical products. At the same time, the maintenance of a high deficit with Poland, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, and Greece shows that even within the most integrated trade space for Ukraine, import demand is still growing faster than the ability of Ukrainian companies to increase supplies.
Poland became the largest market for Ukrainian exports with a figure of $2.38 billion. The second place was taken by Turkey, where goods worth $1.78 billion were delivered. It was followed by Italy with $1.28 billion, Germany with $1.27 billion, Spain with $1.09 billion and the Netherlands with $1.02 billion. Unlike imports, where China had an almost three-fold advantage over Poland, Ukrainian exports were more evenly distributed among leading markets. This reduces dependence on one buyer, but at the same time indicates the absence of a large foreign market capable of providing Ukrainian manufacturers with sales volumes comparable to the scale of Chinese supplies to Ukraine.
Ukraine had a positive trade balance with only 13 of the 50 largest partners, while imports exceeded exports in relations with 37 countries. The largest surplus was formed in trade with Spain — $578.1 million. High positive indicators were also recorded with Egypt — $527.1 million, Moldova — $467.2 million, Algeria — $309.2 million, the Netherlands — $221.5 million, and Lebanon — $220.5 million. The surplus in trade with Libya was $181.3 million, Tunisia — $155.1 million. This geography shows the importance for Ukrainian exports not only of the EU, but also of the markets of North Africa, the Middle East and neighboring Moldova, where Ukrainian goods in a number of cases have a stronger position than the imported products of the corresponding countries.
At the same time, the list of the largest deficits demonstrates a different model of trade dependence. In addition to China, a significant negative balance was formed with Poland — $2.29 billion, Germany — $1.94 billion, the United States — $1.9 billion, and Turkey — $1.34 billion. The five largest partners accounted for more than 74% of the total trade deficit with the TOP-50. Significant negative balances were also recorded with Greece, the Czech Republic, Hungary, France, Lithuania, Sweden, Taiwan, Vietnam and Japan. Part of this deficit is related to the purchase of products that are not produced in Ukraine or are produced in insufficient quantities, but its long-term accumulation creates additional demand for foreign currency and increases the economy's dependence on external financing.
A comparison with the results for January-May shows that the composition of the TOP-50 in June did not change: the same countries were included in the rating, but their positions within the list were noticeably redistributed. The biggest rise was demonstrated by Indonesia, which moved from 43rd to 34th place. Its turnover increased by almost $145 million in June and reached $320.6 million at the end of the first half of the year. Moreover, the main factor of the increase was Ukrainian exports, which increased by approximately $107.7 million in June alone. This allowed bilateral trade to almost equalize: imports amounted to $166.8 million, exports - $153.8 million.
Canada rose from 47th to 40th place, increasing its turnover to $220.1 million, and Saudi Arabia moved from 27th to 23rd place with $649.8 million. Saudi Arabia's increase was mainly due to increased supplies to Ukraine: in June, imports from this country added about $133.2 million, while Ukrainian exports - $41.5 million. On the other hand, Jordan dropped from 41st to 47th, Switzerland from 22nd to 27th, Tunisia from 37th to 41st, and Libya from 39th to 42nd. Such movements do not necessarily mean an absolute reduction in trade: in most cases, they reflect that turnover with other countries grew faster.
Serbia retained the 33rd place among trade partners of Ukraine. According to the results of the first half of the year, trade turnover between the countries reached $345.9 million, of which $243.2 million went to imports of Serbian products and $102.7 million to Ukrainian exports. In June, bilateral turnover amounted to about $55.8 million. The negative balance for Ukraine in six months reached $140.5 million, but Serbia's retention of a place in the middle of the fourth ten of the rating shows that this country has already become a noticeable, although not yet balanced, trade partner of Ukraine in the Balkans. infrastructure. However, the situation in which exports cover only about 41% of imports requires a systemic response. Ukraine needs to increase not only physical volumes of supplies, but also the share of products with high added value, develop processing, machine building, food industry and technological exports. Without this, the increase in turnover will continue to be accompanied by an accelerated accumulation of deficits," Maksym Urakin noted.
The results of the first half of the year generally indicate that Ukraine's foreign trade remains geographically concentrated, import-dependent and heterogeneous in certain areas. China dominates as the largest supplier and the main source of the deficit, the European Union remains the main market for Ukrainian exports, and Turkey, Egypt, Moldova, the countries of the Balkans, North Africa and the Middle East form an important additional belt of trade relations. The rise of Indonesia, Canada and Saudi Arabia shows that the structure of partners can change quickly even within a month, especially in the case of large batches of raw materials, manufactured goods or food.
Further improvement of the trade balance will depend on Ukraine's ability to simultaneously solve several tasks: maintain access to traditional European markets, expand its presence in the countries of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, restore production capacity and increase the share of processed products in export. A simple reduction in imports in the context of reconstruction can hold back economic recovery, so the key task should not be administrative restrictions on purchases, but accelerated growth of competitive exports. It is the transition from a predominantly raw material model to wider production specialization that can gradually reduce the trade deficit and make foreign trade more resistant to price, logistics and geopolitical risks.
