hryvnia/ REUTERS
The share of the shadow economy in January-July 2015 was 42% of the country's GDP, at the same level as in the first half of 2014, Ukraine's Economic Development and Trade Ministry said in its report published on the ministry's website.
The share of the shadow economy grew in such sectors as real estate (by 5%), processing industry (by 3%), mining, construction, finance and insurance (by 2% each).
At the same time, the share of the shadow economy decreased in agriculture, wholesale and retail trade (by 3% each) and transport (by 2%).
The ministry notes that the main causes behind the expansion of the shadow economy are the tax burden on the payroll fund, as well as the monopolization of certain sectors of the economy, including the mining industry.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the growth of the shadow economy in the first quarter of 2015 was 5 percentage points as compared to the same period of 2014, accounting for 47% of official GDP, according to the Economic Development and Trade Ministry's estimates.