Ukraine posts US$3.45 bln in foreign trade deficit in nine months

Ukraine posted US$3.45 billion in a foreign trade deficit in the nine months of 2018, which was three times higher than the deficit posted at US$1.1 billion in the same period of 2017.

Imports of goods and services to Ukraine grew by 15%, to US$45.155 billion, while exports rose by 9.3%, to US$41.705 billion, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said on its website.

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In particular, the deficit of foreign trade in goods was US$6.469 billion, while trade in services saw a surplus of US$4.632 billion.

The report does not include data from Russian-occupied territories, namely the Crimean peninsula and the city of Sevastopol, as well as partly Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the State Statistics Service said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in 2017 was estimated at US$2.625 billion against a $541.6 million surplus in the preceding year. The National Bank estimated the deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in goods and services in 2017 at US$6.848 billion, which was 25.2% more than the deficit for 2016.