Ukraine increased foreign exchange earnings from agro-exports thanks to processing, exporting 15.5 million tons of agricultural products worth $6.3 billion in the first quarter of this year, the Ministry of Economy reported on Thursday, UNN writes.
In the first quarter of 2026, Ukraine exported 15.5 million tons of agricultural products for a total amount of 6.3 billion dollars. The share of agro-products in total exports was 62%, confirming the key role of the sector in generating the state's foreign exchange earnings
As indicated, the main trend is the growing value of exports with almost unchanged volumes.
"In annual terms, the volume of supplies grew by only 1.2%, while export revenue increased by 8.3%, or by 482 million dollars. It is important that this result was achieved not due to external price conditions: the FAO food price index rose by only 1%. The key factor was internal structural changes – primarily an increase in the share of value-added products," the ministry noted.
"We see a clear trend: Ukraine is gradually moving away from the raw material export model and increasing supplies of processed products. This yields greater foreign exchange earnings even with stable volumes," said Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Taras Vysotskyi.
Geography of exports
The geography of exports, as indicated, "remains stable":
- 49% – EU countries;
- 20% – MENA region (Middle East and North Africa);
- 12% – Turkey;
- 18% - other countries.
At the same time, Turkey, as indicated, significantly strengthened its position: its share grew from 9% to 12%, and the volume of exports in monetary terms increased by 242 million dollars.
Export leaders
The export structure remains concentrated: the top 5 commodity categories provided 68% of revenue, the top 10 - 81%. The leaders remain:
- corn - showed growth in both physical (+18%) and monetary (+17%) terms, largely due to active demand from Turkey;
- sunflower oil - demonstrated a revenue increase of 20% with a minimal increase in volumes (+3%);
- wheat - exports decreased by 35%, primarily due to a record harvest in EU countries. The largest drop was recorded in the European direction (–82%). However, a recovery can be traced within the quarter: exports grew from 536 thousand tons in January to 869 thousand tons in March (+62%), which creates the prerequisites for full utilization of the EU quota in 2026.
"Separately, it is worth noting the transformation of oilseed exports. Due to the stimulation of domestic processing, the export of raw materials is decreasing and the share of processed products is growing. In particular, in the soybean segment, processed products (cake and oil) showed a smaller decrease than raw beans. In the rapeseed segment, the changes are even more indicative: rapeseed oil exports grew more than 30 times compared to the same period last year," the ministry reported.
"Overall, the results of the first quarter of 2026 indicate qualitative changes in agro-exports: Ukraine is gradually moving from exporting raw materials to products with higher added value," the Ministry of Economy emphasized.
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