KYIV- Ukraine’s gross domestic product grew by 2.2 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2023, the economy ministry said on Wednesday.
The ministry said in a statement the economy had started to recover after an extremely difficult 2022, when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The economy shrank by about one-third last year in the largest annual fall in more than 30 years of Ukrainian independence.
But businesses and residents have adjusted to war-time reality, and the economy has performed better than expected.
Nadiia Bigun, deputy economy minister, said the number of Ukrainian entrepreneurs had surpassed the levels before the war.
“We have positive news – the Ukrainian business is recovering and the number of registered entrepreneurs is growing. As of the middle of summer we have about 2 million entrepreneurs,” she said in the statement.
“Economic growth is very important for us because we finance our armed forces thanks to the tax revenues from the businesses.”
Ukraine’s economic resilience prompted the government to improve its macroeconomic forecasts for the year.
The central bank has increased its forecast for GDP growth to 2.9 percent in 2023 from an earlier target of 2 percent , and expects economic growth to quicken to 3.5 percent next year.
Ukraine’s Western lenders are more cautious. The World Bank expects GDP growth of 0.5 percent in 2023.
Ukrainian agricultural exports rose by 16 percent in August versus July to 4.3 million metric tons, despite difficulties in logistics and Russian attacks on Ukraine’s main export routes, the UCAB agricultural business association said on Tuesday.
The union said the August volume included 2.3 million tons of grain, 755,400 tons of oilseeds, 548,900 tons of vegetable oils and 367,300 tons of various meals.
It said wheat and sunflower oil dominated the volume.
The agriculture ministry said last week Ukraine’s grain exports so far in the 2023/24 July-June season had risen to 4.5 million tons as of September 1, from 3.9 million as of August 31, 2022.
“The Danube river ports remained the most efficient (export) route, accounting for 64 percent of exports in August,” the association said.
Moscow left the UN-brokered Black Sea grain export deal on July 17, saying its demands for sanctions to be eased on Russian grain and fertiliser exports had not been met. Moscow also complained that not enough grain had reached poor countries.
