Ukraine’s GDP grows by 5.3% in Jan-Sept

KYIV – Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.3 per cent in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period a year ago, the Economy Ministry said on Friday, quoting preliminary data.

“After last year’s fall of nearly 30 per cent, this year we see a recovery growth,” First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a statement.

Ukraine’s economy was hit hard by Russia’s invasion in February 2022, with GDP falling by 29.1 per cent on the 2022 results, the biggest annual fall since the country’s independence in 1991.

But businesses adjusted to the new, wartime reality.

Ms Svyrydenko said all sectors of the economy were growing so far in 2023. She singled out a 10 per cent growth in the machine-building industry, food sector and furniture production, without specifying the time period.

Ms Svyrydenko reiterated the government’s forecast for GDP growth at about 5 per cent in 2023 and 2024.

In 2024, the government plans to channel about 40 billion hryvnias (S$1.5 billion) to support entrepreneurship and small businesses, Ms Svyrydenko said.

Around a fifth of Ukraine is occupied by Russian troops, millions of Ukrainians have fled abroad, several cities have been demolished by Russian bombardment, one of Europe’s biggest dams was blown up and Ukraine’s exports from Black Sea ports have been halted by a de facto Russian blockade.

A winter Russian missile campaign targeted energy infrastructure.

But Ukraine says both its industry and agriculture have recovered more rapidly than officials initially expected. REUTERS