Ukrainian GDP collapsed by 29.1% in 2022

A dizzying fall. Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) collapsed by 29.1% in 2022 compared to the previous year, due to the Russian invasion which is ravaging the country, underlined, Thursday, April 13, the Ukrainian State Committee for Statistics. Ukraine was already one of the poorest countries in Europe when Russia attacked it. However, its GDP had grown by 3.4% in 2021.

Ukraine, which is resisting thanks to military and financial aid from the West, has seen whole sections of its economy swallowed up by the war. The construction sector was thus the hardest hit, with a fall of 67.6% last year.

IMF predicts improvement in coming years

Although hostilities continue, and while up to 20% of Ukrainian territory is occupied, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of Kiev’s key backers, expects a partial and gradual economic recovery this year. The IMF estimates that the Ukrainian economy could evolve between a recession of 3% and growth of 1% in 2023. The institution forecasts an acceleration in 2024, to 3.2%, then up to 6% in 2025.

The IMF has just validated 15.6 billion dollars in aid for Ukraine in a major international support plan of 115 billion dollars.