Ukraine

Ukraine was the center of the first eastern Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, which was the largest and most powerful state in Europe during the 10th and 11th centuries. Weakened by internecine quarrels and Mongol invasions, Kyivan Rus was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and eventually into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The cultural and religious legacy of Kyivan Rus laid the foundation for Ukrainian nationalism. A new Ukrainian state, the Cossack Hetmanate, was established during the mid-17th century after an uprising against the Poles. Despite continuous Muscovite pressure, the Hetmanate managed to remain autonomous for well over 100 years. During the latter part of the 18th century, the Russian Empire absorbed most Ukrainian territory. After czarist Russia collapsed in 1917, Ukraine -- which has long been known as the region's "bread basket" for its agricultural production -- achieved a short-lived period of independence (1917-20), but the country was reconquered and endured a Soviet rule that engineered two famines (1921-22 and 1932-33) in which over eight million died. In World War II, German and Soviet armies were responsible for seven to eight million more deaths. In 1986, a sudden power surge during a reactor-systems test at Ukraine's Chernobyl power station triggered the worst nuclear disaster in history, releasing massive amounts of radioactive material. Although Ukraine overwhelmingly voted for independence in 1991 as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) dissolved, democracy and prosperity remained elusive, with the legacy of state control, patronage politics, and endemic corruption stalling efforts at economic reform, privatization, and civil liberties. In 2004 and 2005, a mass protest dubbed the "Orange Revolution" forced the authorities to overturn a presidential election and allow a new internationally monitored vote that swept into power a reformist slate under Viktor YUSHCHENKO. Rival Viktor YANUKOVYCH became prime minister in 2006 and was elected president in 2010. In 2012, Ukraine held legislative elections that Western observers widely criticized as corrupt. In 2013, YANUKOVYCH backtracked on a trade and cooperation agreement with the EU -- in favor of closer economic ties with Russia -- and then used force against protestors who supported the agreement, leading to a three-month protestor occupation of Kyiv's central square. The government's use of violence to break up the protest camp in 2014 led to multiple deaths, international condemnation, a failed political deal, and the president's abrupt departure for Russia. Pro-West President Petro POROSHENKO took office later that year; Volodymyr ZELENSKYY succeeded him in 2019. Shortly after YANUKOVYCH's departure in 2014, Russian President Vladimir PUTIN ordered the invasion of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. In response, the UN passed a resolution confirming Ukraine's sovereignty and independence. In mid-2014, Russia began an armed conflict in two of Ukraine's eastern provinces. International efforts to end the conflict failed, and by 2022, more than 14,000 civilians were killed or wounded. On 24 February 2022, Russia escalated the conflict by invading the country on several fronts, in what has become the largest conventional military attack on a sovereign state in Europe since World War II. Russia made substantial gains in the early weeks of the invasion but underestimated Ukrainian resolve and combat capabilities. Despite Ukrainian resistance, Russia has laid claim to four Ukrainian oblasts -- Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia -- although none is fully under Russian control. The international community has not recognized the annexations. The invasion has also created Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II, with over six million Ukrainian refugees recorded globally. It remains one of the two largest displacement crises worldwide (the other is the conflict in Syria). President ZELENSKYY has focused on boosting Ukrainian identity to unite the country behind the goals of ending the war through reclaiming territory and advancing Ukraine’s candidacy for EU membership. 

land

579,330 sq km

note

note: Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, an area of approximately 27,000 sq km (10,400 sq miles)

total

603,550 sq km

water

24,220 sq km

almost four times the size of Georgia; slightly smaller than Texas

temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

2,782 km

highest point

Hora Hoverla 2,061 m

lowest point

Black Sea 0 m

mean elevation

175 m

49 00 N, 32 00 E

strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia; second-largest country in Europe after Russia

4,350 sq km (2020)

border countries

Belarus 1,111 km; Hungary 128 km; Moldova 1,202 km; Poland 498 km; Romania 601 km; Russia 1,944 km, Slovakia 97 km

total

5,581 km

agricultural land

71.2% (2018 est.)

agricultural land: arable land

arable land: 56.1% (2018 est.)

agricultural land: permanent crops

permanent crops: 1.5% (2018 est.)

agricultural land: permanent pasture

permanent pasture: 13.6% (2018 est.)

forest

16.8% (2018 est.)

other

12% (2018 est.)

Eastern Europe, bordering the Black Sea, between Poland, Belarus, Romania, and Moldova in the west and Russia in the east

Dunay (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Dnipro (Dnieper) river mouth (shared with Russia [s] and Belarus) - 2,287 km; Dnister (Dniester) river source and mouth (shared with Moldova) - 1,411 km; Vistula (shared with Poland [s/m] and Belarus) - 1,213 kmnote – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km), Don (458,694 sq km), Dnieper (533,966 sq km)

AsiaEurope

continental shelf

200 m or to the depth of exploitation

exclusive economic zone

200 nm

territorial sea

12 nm

occasional floods; occasional droughts

iron ore, coal, manganese, natural gas, oil, salt, sulfur, graphite, titanium, magnesium, kaolin, nickel, mercury, timber, arable land

densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa

mostly fertile plains (steppes) and plateaus, with mountains found only in the west (the Carpathians) or in the extreme south of the Crimean Peninsula

0-14 years

12.3% (male 2,278,116/female 2,122,500)

15-64 years

67.8% (male 12,784,928/female 11,376,460)

65 years and over

19.9% (2024 est.) (male 2,447,105/female 4,652,717)

beer

2.44 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols

0.05 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits

2.88 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total

5.69 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine

0.32 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

6 births/1,000 population (2024 est.)

NA

65.4% (2012)

7.6% of GDP (2020)

61.6% (2023 est.)

18.6 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.)

elderly dependency ratio

25.8

note

note: data include Crimea

potential support ratio

3.9 (2021 est.)

total dependency ratio

48.4

youth dependency ratio

22.6

improved: rural

rural: 100% of population

improved: total

total: 99.6% of population

improved: urban

urban: 99.4% of population

unimproved: rural

rural: 0% of population

unimproved: total

total: 0.4% of population (2020 est.)

unimproved: urban

urban: 0.6% of population

5.4% of GDP (2020 est.)

Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 est.)

0.59 (2024 est.)

7.5 beds/1,000 population (2014)

female

7.6 deaths/1,000 live births

male

9.7 deaths/1,000 live births

total

8.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)

Languages

Ukrainian (official) 67.5%, Russian (regional language) 29.6%, other (includes Crimean Tatar, Moldovan/Romanian, and Hungarian) 2.9% (2001 est.)

major-language sample(s)

Свiтова Книга Фактiв – найкраще джерело базової інформації. (Ukrainian)The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

female

75.8 years

male

65.4 years

total population

70.5 years (2024 est.)

definition

age 15 and over can read and write

female

100% (2021)

male

100%

total population

100%

3.017 million KYIV (capital), 1.421 million Kharkiv, 1.008 million Odesa, 942,000 Dnipropetrovsk, 888,000 Donetsk (2023)

17 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

female

49.2 years

male

41.4 years

total

44.9 years (2024 est.)

26.2 years (2019 est.)

adjective

Ukrainian

noun

Ukrainian(s)

36.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.)

24.1% (2016)

2.99 physicians/1,000 population (2014)

female

18,151,677 (2024 est.)

male

17,510,149

total

35,661,826

densest settlement in the eastern (Donbas) and western regions; noteable concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets'k, Dnipropetrovs'k, and Odesa

2.38% (2024 est.)

Orthodox (includes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and the Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP)), Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish (2013 est.)

note

note: Ukraine's population is overwhelmingly Christian; the vast majority - up to two thirds - identify themselves as Orthodox, but many do not specify a particular branch; the OCU and the UOC-MP each represent less than a quarter of the country's population, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church accounts for 8-10%, and the UAOC accounts for 1-2%; Muslim and Jewish adherents each compose less than 1% of the total population

improved: rural

rural: 100% of population

improved: total

total: 100% of population

improved: urban

urban: 100% of population

unimproved: rural

rural: 0% of population

unimproved: total

total: 0% of population (2020 est.)

unimproved: urban

urban: 0% of population

female

15 years (2014)

male

15 years

total

15 years

0-14 years

1.07 male(s)/female

15-64 years

1.12 male(s)/female

65 years and over

0.53 male(s)/female

at birth

1.06 male(s)/female

total population

0.97 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

female

11.5% (2020 est.)

male

40% (2020 est.)

total

25.8% (2020 est.)

1.22 children born/woman (2024 est.)

rate of urbanization

-0.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population

70.1% of total population (2023)

24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic* (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities** (mista, singular - misto) with oblast status; Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea or Avtonomna Respublika Krym* (Simferopol), Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro), Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad (Kropyvnytskyi), Kyiv**, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol**, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn (Lutsk), Zakarpattia (Uzhhorod), Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr

note

note 1: administrative divisions have the same names as their administrative centers (exceptions have the administrative center name following in parentheses); plans include the eventual renaming of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad oblasts, but because these names are mentioned in the Constitution of Ukraine, the change will require a constitutional amendment note 2: the US Government does not recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the municipality of Sevastopol, nor their redesignation as the "Republic of Crimea" and the "Federal City of Sevastopol"; neither does the US Government recognize Russia's claimed annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts

daylight saving time

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology

the name is associated with that of Kyi, who along with his brothers Shchek and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid, are the legendary founders of the medieval city of Kyiv; Kyi being the eldest brother, the city was named after him

geographic coordinates

50 26 N, 30 31 E

name

Kyiv (Kiev is the transliteration from Russian)

note

note: pronounced KAY-yiv

time difference

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

citizenship by birth

no

citizenship by descent only

at least one parent must be a citizen of Ukraine

dual citizenship recognized

no

residency requirement for naturalization

5 years

amendments

proposed by the president of Ukraine or by at least one third of the Supreme Council members; adoption requires simple majority vote by the Council and at least two-thirds majority vote in its next regular session; adoption of proposals relating to general constitutional principles, elections, and amendment procedures requires two-thirds majority vote by the Council and approval in a referendum; constitutional articles on personal rights and freedoms, national independence, and territorial integrity cannot be amended; amended several times, last in 2019

history

several previous; latest adopted and ratified 28 June 1996

conventional long form

none

conventional short form

Ukraine

etymology

name derives from the Old East Slavic word "ukraina" meaning "borderland or march (militarized border region)" and began to be used extensively in the 19th century; originally Ukrainians referred to themselves as Rusyny (Rusyns, Ruthenians, or Ruthenes), an endonym derived from the medieval Rus state (Kyivan Rus)

former

Ukrainian National Republic, Ukrainian State, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

local long form

none

local short form

Ukraina

chief of mission

Ambassador Bridget A. BRINK (since 2 June 2022)

email address and website

kyivacs@state.govhttps://ua.usembassy.gov/

embassy

4 A. I. Igor Sikorsky Street, 04112 Kyiv

FAX

[380] (44) 521-5544

mailing address

5850 Kyiv Place, Washington, DC 20521-5850

telephone

[380] (44) 521-5000

chancery

3350 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20007

chief of mission

Ambassador Oksana MARKAROVA (since 7 July 2021)

consulate(s) general

Chicago, New York, San Francisco

email address and website

emb_us@mfa.gov.uahttps://usa.mfa.gov.ua/en

FAX

[1] (202) 333-0817

telephone

[1] (202) 349-2963

cabinet

Cabinet of Ministers nominated by the prime minister, approved by the Verkhovna Rada

chief of state

President Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (since 20 May 2019)

election results

2019: Volodymyr ZELENSKYY elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY (Servant of the People) 30.2%, Petro POROSHENKO (BPP-Solidarity) 15.6%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 13.4%, Yuriy BOYKO (Opposition Platform-For Life) 11.7%, 35 other candidates 29.1%; percent of vote in the second round - Volodymyr ZELENSKYY 73.2%, Petro POROSHENKO 24.5%, other 2.3%; Denys SHMYHAL (independent) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 291-592014: Petro POROSHENKO elected president in first round; percent of vote - Petro POROSHENKO (independent) 54.5%, Yuliya TYMOSHENKO (Fatherland) 12.9%, Oleh LYASHKO (Radical Party) 8.4%, other 24.2%; Volodymyr HROYSMAN (BPP) elected prime minister; Verkhovna Rada vote - 257-50

elections/appointments

president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 31 March and 21 April 2019 (next to be held in March 2024); prime minister selected by the Verkhovna Rada

head of government

Prime Minister Denys SHMYHAL (since 4 March 2020)

note

note: there is also a National Security and Defense Council or NSDC originally created in 1992 as the National Security Council; the NSDC staff is tasked with developing national security policy on domestic and international matters and advising the president; a presidential administration helps draft presidential edicts and provides policy support to the president

two equal horizontal bands of azure (top) and golden yellow; although the colors date back to medieval heraldry, in modern times they are sometimes claimed to represent grain fields under a blue sky

semi-presidential republic

24 August 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier dates: ca. 982 (VOLODYMYR I consolidates Kyivan Rus); 1199 (Principality (later Kingdom) of Ruthenia formed); 1648 (establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate); 22 January 1918 (from Soviet Russia)

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Australia Group, BSEC, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CEI, CICA (observer), CIS (participating member, has not signed the 1993 CIS charter), EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNOOSA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

note

note: Ukraine is an EU candidate country whose satisfactory completion of accession criteria is required before being granted full EU membership

highest court(s)

Supreme Court of Ukraine or SCU (consists of 100 judges, organized into civil, criminal, commercial and administrative chambers, and a grand chamber); Constitutional Court (consists of 18 justices); High Anti-Corruption Court (consists of 39 judges, including 12 in the Appeals Chamber)

judge selection and term of office

Supreme Court judges recommended by the High Qualification Commission of Judges (a 16-member state body responsible for judicial candidate testing and assessment and judicial administration), submitted to the High Council of Justice, a 21-member independent body of judicial officials responsible for judicial self-governance and administration, and appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; High Anti-Corruption Court judges are selected by the same process as Supreme Court justices, with one addition – a majority of a combined High Qualification Commission of Judges and a 6-member Public Council of International Experts must vote in favor of potential judges in order to recommend their nomination to the High Council of Justice; this majority must include at least 3 members of the Public Council of International Experts; Constitutional Court justices appointed - 6 each by the president, by the Congress of Judges, and by the Verkhovna Rada; judges serve 9-year nonrenewable terms  

note

note: specialized courts were abolished as part of Ukraine's judicial reform program; in November 2019, President ZELENSKYY signed a bill on legal reforms

subordinate courts

Courts of Appeal; district courts

civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts

description

unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; 225 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 225 directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by closed, party-list proportional representation vote; members serve 5-year terms)

election results

percent of vote by party - Servant of the People 43.2%, Opposition Platform-For Life 13.1%, Batkivshchyna 8.2%, European Solidarity 8.1%, Voice 5.8%, other 21.6%; Servant of the People 254, Opposition Platform for Life 43, Batkivshchyna 26, European Solidarity 25, Voice 20, Opposition Bloc 6, Svoboda 1, Self Reliance 1, United Centre 1, Bila Tserkva Together 1, independent 46

elections

last held on 21 July 2019

note

note 1: the next legislative election is expected to take place after the Russian-Ukrainian War endsnote 2: voting not held in Crimea and parts of two Russian-occupied eastern oblasts leaving 26 seats vacant; although this brings the total to 424 elected members (of 450 potential), article 83 of the constitution mandates that a parliamentary majority consists of 226 seats

lyrics/music

Paul CHUBYNSKYI/Mikhail VERBYTSKYI

name

"Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" (Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished)

note

note: music adopted 1991, lyrics adopted 2003; song first performed in 1864 at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv; the lyrics, originally written in 1862, were revised in 2003

selected World Heritage Site locales

Kyiv: Saint Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv Pechersk Lavra (c); Lviv Historic Center (c); Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans, Chernivtsi (c); Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese, Sevastopol (c); Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region (c); Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians (n); Struve Geodetic Arc (c); The Historic Centre of Odesa (c)

total World Heritage Sites

8 (7 cultural, 1 natural)

Independence Day, 24 August (1991); note - 22 January 1918, the day Ukraine first declared its independence from Soviet Russia, and the date the short-lived Western and Greater (Eastern) Ukrainian republics united (1919), is now celebrated as Unity Day

tryzub (trident), sunflower; national colors: blue, yellow

Batkivshchyna (Fatherland)European Solidarity or YeSHolos (Voice or Vote)Opposition Bloc (formerly known as Opposition Bloc — Party for Peace and Development, successor of the Industrial Party of Ukraine, and resulted from a schism in the original Opposition Bloc in 2019; banned in court June 2022; ceased to exist in July 2022)Opposition Bloc or OB (divided into Opposition Bloc - Party for Peace and Development and Opposition Platform - For Life in 2019; ceased to exist in July 2022)Opposition Platform - For Life (resulted from a schism in the original Opposition Bloc in 2019; activities suspended by the National Security and Defense Council in March 2022; dissolved in April 2022)Platform for Life and PeaceRadical Party or RPOLSamopomich (Self Reliance)Servant of the PeopleSvoboda (Freedom)

18 years of age; universal

maize, potatoes, wheat, sunflower seeds, sugar beets, milk, barley, soybeans, rapeseed, cabbages (2022)

note

note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

on alcohol and tobacco

6.9% of household expenditures (2022 est.)

on food

42.7% of household expenditures (2022 est.)

expenditures

$93.783 billion (2022 est.)

note

note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

revenues

$68.559 billion (2022 est.)

Fitch rating

CC (2022)

Moody's rating

Ca (2023)

note

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

Standard & Poors rating

CCC (2023)

Current account balance 2021

-$3.882 billion (2021 est.)

Current account balance 2022

$7.972 billion (2022 est.)

Current account balance 2023

-$9.209 billion (2023 est.)

note

note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars

lower-middle-income, non-EU, Eastern European economy; key wheat and corn exporter; gradual recovery after 30% GDP contraction at start of war; damage to infrastructure and agriculture balanced by consumer and business resilience; international aid has stabilized foreign exchange reserves, allowing managed currency float; continued progress on anti-corruption reforms

Currency

hryvnia (UAH) per US dollar -

Exchange rates 2019

25.846 (2019 est.)

Exchange rates 2020

26.958 (2020 est.)

Exchange rates 2021

27.286 (2021 est.)

Exchange rates 2022

32.342 (2022 est.)

Exchange rates 2023

36.574 (2023 est.)

Exports 2021

$81.504 billion (2021 est.)

Exports 2022

$57.517 billion (2022 est.)

Exports 2023

$51.093 billion (2023 est.)

note

note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

corn, seed oils, wheat, iron ore, rapeseed (2022)

note

note: top five export commodities based on value in dollars

Poland 14%, Romania 8%, Turkey 6%, China 6%, Germany 5% (2022)

note

note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports

exports of goods and services

28.6% (2023 est.)

government consumption

41.7% (2023 est.)

household consumption

64.1% (2023 est.)

imports of goods and services

-49.5% (2023 est.)

investment in fixed capital

16.9% (2023 est.)

investment in inventories

-1.8% (2023 est.)

note

note: figures may not total 100% due to rounding or gaps in data collection

agriculture

7.4% (2023 est.)

industry

18.8% (2023 est.)

note

note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data

services

61.3% (2023 est.)

$178.757 billion (2023 est.)

note

note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income 2020

25.6 (2020 est.)

note

note: index (0-100) of income distribution; higher values represent greater inequality

highest 10%

21.8% (2020 est.)

lowest 10%

4.3% (2020 est.)

note

note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population

Imports 2021

$84.175 billion (2021 est.)

Imports 2022

$83.254 billion (2022 est.)

Imports 2023

$88.488 billion (2023 est.)

note

note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

refined petroleum, cars, natural gas, garments, packaged medicine (2022)

note

note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars

Poland 17%, China 12%, Germany 9%, Turkey 6%, Hungary 4% (2022)

note

note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports

8.61% (2023 est.)

note

note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

industrial machinery, ferrous and nonferrous metals, automotive and aircraft components, electronics, chemicals, textiles, mining, construction

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2021

9.36% (2021 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2022

20.18% (2022 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2023

12.85% (2023 est.)

note

note: annual % change based on consumer prices

20.312 million (2021 est.)

note

note: number of people ages 15 or older who are employed or seeking work

1.6% (2020 est.)

note

note: % of population with income below national poverty line

note

note: central government debt as a % of GDP

Public debt 2020

58.72% of GDP (2020 est.)

note

note: data in 2021 dollars

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2021

$746.471 billion (2021 est.)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2022

$531.796 billion (2022 est.)

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2023

$559.981 billion (2023 est.)

note

note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real GDP growth rate 2021

3.45% (2021 est.)

Real GDP growth rate 2022

-28.76% (2022 est.)

Real GDP growth rate 2023

5.3% (2023 est.)

note

note: data in 2021 dollars

Real GDP per capita 2021

$18,000 (2021 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2022

$15,000 (2022 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2023

$16,200 (2023 est.)

note

note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities

Remittances 2021

9.04% of GDP (2021 est.)

Remittances 2022

10.36% of GDP (2022 est.)

Remittances 2023

8.46% of GDP (2023 est.)

note

note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 2021

$30.967 billion (2021 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 2022

$28.506 billion (2022 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold 2023

$40.51 billion (2023 est.)

16.69% (of GDP) (2022 est.)

note

note: central government tax revenue as a % of GDP

note

note: % of labor force seeking employment

Unemployment rate 2019

8.19% (2019 est.)

Unemployment rate 2020

9.48% (2020 est.)

Unemployment rate 2021

9.83% (2021 est.)

female

20.4% (2021 est.)

male

18.1% (2021 est.)

note

note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment

total

19.1% (2021 est.)

from coal and metallurgical coke

19.401 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)

from consumed natural gas

42.739 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)

from petroleum and other liquids

31.22 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)

total emissions

93.36 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2022 est.)

consumption

10.953 million metric tons (2022 est.)

exports

9,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

imports

6.553 million metric tons (2022 est.)

production

4.248 million metric tons (2022 est.)

proven reserves

34.375 billion metric tons (2022 est.)

consumption

99.69 billion kWh (2022 est.)

exports

2.48 billion kWh (2022 est.)

imports

1.034 billion kWh (2022 est.)

installed generating capacity

58.531 million kW (2022 est.)

transmission/distribution losses

11.108 billion kWh (2022 est.)

electrification - total population

100% (2022 est.)

biomass and waste

0.5% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)

fossil fuels

32.6% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)

hydroelectricity

6.5% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)

nuclear

54.5% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)

solar

4.1% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)

wind

1.8% of total installed capacity (2022 est.)

Total energy consumption per capita 2022

53.302 million Btu/person (2022 est.)

consumption

22.856 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

exports

95.994 million cubic meters (2022 est.)

imports

5.404 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

production

18.725 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

proven reserves

1.104 trillion cubic meters (2021 est.)

Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors

13.11GW (2023 est.)

Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down

4 (2023)

Number of nuclear reactors under construction

2 (2023)

Number of operational nuclear reactors

15 (2023)

Percent of total electricity production

55% (2023 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves

395 million barrels (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption

248,000 bbl/day (2022 est.)

total petroleum production

3,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

19 (2020 est.)

total

7,769,401 (2020 est.)

Ukraine’s media landscape is dominated by oligarch-owned news outlets, which are often politically motivated and at odds with one another and/or the government; while polls suggest most Ukrainians still receive news from traditional media sources, social media is a crucial component of information dissemination in Ukraine; almost all Ukrainian politicians and opinion leaders communicate with the public via social media and maintain at least one social media page, if not more; this allows them direct communication with audiences, and news often breaks on Facebook or Twitter before being picked up by traditional news outlets; Kyiv created a unified news platform to broadcast news about the war following Russia's full-scale invasion; the government's "United News" television marathon is a round-the clock framework which untied the Ukrainian public broadcaster and top commercial TV channels' programming; Ukraine television serves as the principal source of news; the largest national networks are controlled by oligarchs: Studio 1+1 is owned by Ihor Kolomoyskyy; Inter is owned by Dmytro Firtash and Serhiy Lyovochkin; and StarlightMedia channels (ICTV, STB, and Novyi Kanal) are owned by Victor Pinchuk;  a set of 24-hour news channels also have clear political affiliations: pro-Ukrainian government Channel 5 and Pryamyi are linked to President Petro Poroshenko; 24 is owned by opposition, but not pro-Russian, politicians; UA: Suspilne is a public television station under the umbrella of the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine; while it is often praised by media experts for balanced coverage, it lags in popularity; Ukrainian Radio, institutionally linked to UA: Suspilne, is one of only two national talk radio networks, with the other being the privately owned Radio NV (2021)

a sorting code to expeditiously handle large volumes of mail was first set up in Ukraine in the 1930s (then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union); the sophisticated, three-part (number-letter-number) postal code system, referred to as an "index," was the world's first postal zip code; the system functioned well and was in use from 1932 to 1939 when it was abruptly discontinued

.ua

percent of population

79% (2021 est.)

total

34,596,356 (2021 est.)

domestic

fixed-line teledensity is 6 per 100; the mobile-cellular telephone is 135 mobile phones per 100 persons (2022)

general assessment

there has been considerable damage and destruction to the communications infrastructure in more than 10 out of 24 regions of Ukraine since the war started; Ukraine estimates it will need $4.67 billion (€4.38 billion) over 10 years to repair an overlooked but expensive casualty in the ongoing Russian invasion: its telecommunications network; forty-five per cent of the total network damage is felt by fixed broadband operators, followed closely by mobile operators at 43 percent; "it will be difficult to restore telecommunications to their pre-war level until there are "conditions for the safe living of consumers and service providers"; the World Bank estimates that roughly 12 per cent of all Ukrainian households have lost mobile service connection: an issue, the report notes, that "affects not only personal communication but also critical services and economic activities"; Ukraine is also one of the biggest users of SpaceX’s Starlink, a series of satellites in space that transmit radio signals to users on Earth, with 47,000 units being used by the country; (2024)

international

country code - 380; landing point for the Kerch Strait Cable connecting Ukraine to Russia; 2 new domestic trunk lines are a part of the fiber-optic TAE system and 3 Ukrainian links have been installed in the fiber-optic TEL project that connects 18 countries; additional international service is provided by the Italy-Turkey-Ukraine-Russia (ITUR) fiber-optic submarine cable and by an unknown number of earth stations in the Intelsat, Inmarsat, and Intersputnik satellite systems

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

6 (2021 est.)

total subscriptions

1.739 million (2022 est.)

subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

135 (2021 est.)

total subscriptions

49.304 million (2022 est.)

148 (2024)

UR

42 (2024)

by type

container ship 1, general cargo 83, oil tanker 14, other 312

total

410 (2023)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers

75.26 million (2018) mt-km

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers

7,854,842 (2018)

inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers

126

number of registered air carriers

14 (2020)

36,720 km gas, 4,514 km oil, 4,363 km refined products (2013)

key ports

Berdyansk, Dnipro-Buzkyy, Feodosiya, Illichivsk, Kerch, Kherson, Mariupol, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Sevastopol, Yuzhnyy

large

3

ports with oil terminals

8

small

8

total ports

26 (2024)

very small

15

broad gauge

21,684 km (2014) 1.524-m gauge (9,250 km electrified)

standard gauge

49 km (2014) 1.435-m gauge (49 km electrified)

total

21,733 km (2014)

paved

166,095 km (includes 17 km of expressways)

total

169,694 km

unpaved

3,599 km (2012)

1,672 km (2012) (most on Dnieper River)

the primary focus of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) is defense against Russian aggression; in February 2022, Russia launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in what is the largest conflict in Europe since the end of World War II in 1945; as of 2024, the front line of the fighting stretched about 1,000 kilometers (some 600 miles) north and south in eastern and southern Ukraine; Russia’s forces have also launched missile and armed drone strikes throughout Ukraine, hitting critical infrastructure, including power, water, and heating facilities, as well as other civilian targets; Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, occupying Ukraine’s province of Crimea and backing separatist forces in the Donbas region with arms, equipment, and training, as well as special operations forces and regular troops, although Moscow denied their presence prior to 2022; the UAF has received considerable outside military assistance since the Russian invasion, including equipment and training, chiefly from Europe and the US Ukraine has a relationship with NATO dating back to the early 1990s, when Ukraine joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (1991) and the Partnership for Peace program (1994); the relationship intensified in the wake of the 2014 Russia-Ukraine conflict and Russian seizure of Crimea to include NATO support for Ukrainian military capabilities development and capacity-building; NATO and individual NATO countries further increased support to the Ukrainian military following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 (2024)

Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU; Zbroyni Syly Ukrayiny or ZSU): Ground Forces (Sukhoputni Viys’ka), Naval Forces (Viys’kovo-Mors’ki Syly, VMS), Air Forces (Povitryani Syly, PS), Air Assault Forces (Desantno-shturmovi Viyska, DShV), Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (UASOF), Unmanned Systems Forces, Territorial Defense Forces (Reserves)Ministry of Internal Affairs: National Guard of Ukraine, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (includes Maritime Border Guard or Sea Guard) (2024)

note

note 1: in the event that martial law is declared, all National Guard units, with certain exceptions such as those tasked with providing for diplomatic security of embassies and consulates, would come under the command of the Ministry of Defense as auxiliary forces to the Armed Forcesnote 2: the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) were formally established in July 2021; the TDF evolved from former Territorial Defense Battalions and other volunteer militia and paramilitary units that were organized in 2014-2015 to fight Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas; in January 2022, the TDF was activated as a separate military branch; it is organized into at least 25 brigades representing each of the 24 oblasts, plus the city of Kyiv

estimated 800,000 active Armed Forces personnel (2024)

note

note 1: following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President ZELENSKY announced a general mobilization of the country; prior to the invasion, approximately 200,000 active Armed Forces troops (125,000 Army; 25,000 Airborne/Air Assault Forces; 2,000 Special Operations Forces; 10,000 Navy; 40,000 Air Force); approximately 50,000 National Guard; approximately 40,000 State Border Guard

note: prior to the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine had committed about 500 troops to the Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine joint military brigade (LITPOLUKRBRIG), which was established in 2014; the brigade is headquartered in Poland and is comprised of an international staff, three battalions, and specialized units; units affiliated with the multinational brigade remain within the structures of the armed forces of their respective countries until the brigade is activated for participation in an international operation

prior to the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, the Ukrainian military was equipped largely with Russian-origin and Soviet-era weapons systems; since the invasion, it has received considerable quantities of weapons, including Soviet-era and more modern Western systems, from European countries and the US; Ukraine also has a growing inventory of domestically-produced weapons and equipment (2024)

Military Expenditures 2017

3.1% of GDP (2017 est.)

Military Expenditures 2018

3.1% of GDP (2018 est.)

Military Expenditures 2019

3.4% of GDP (2019 est.)

Military Expenditures 2020

4% of GDP (2020 est.)

Military Expenditures 2021

4% of GDP (2021 est.)

note

note: since Russia's invasion of the country in early 2022, defense spending has increased to more than 25% of GDP according to some estimates

18 years of age for voluntary service; conscription abolished in 2012, but reintroduced for men in 2014; 25 years of age for conscription; prior to the Russian invasion of February 2022, conscript service obligation was 12-18 months, depending on the service (2024)

note

note 1: following the Russian invasion in 2022, all nonexempt men ages 18-60 were required to register with their local recruitment offices and undergo medical screening for possible service; the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) accepts volunteers, 18-60 years of age; since the invasion, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have volunteered for the regular armed forces, the TDF, or to work in civilian defense activities note 2: women have been able to volunteer for military service since 1993; as of 2024, nearly 70,000 women were serving in the armed forces in both uniformed and civilian positions note 3: since 2015, the Ukrainian military has allowed foreigners and stateless persons, 18-45 (in special cases up to 60), to join on 3-5-year contracts, based on qualifications; following the Russian invasion in 2022, the military began accepting medically fit foreign volunteers on a larger scale, with an emphasis on persons with combat experience; wartime volunteers typically serve for 6 months

a transit country for non-domestically produced drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, bound for consumer markets in the European Union and Russia; overland corridors for the movement of these drugs exists, but Ukraine’s southern ports on the Black Sea, notably Odesa and Pivdennyi, are disrupted due to the war;  domestically produced amphetamine, methamphetamine, methadone, alpha-PVP, and new psychoactive substances (NPS) remain threats to Ukrainian society; production and consumption of cannabis remains significant

IDPs

1,461,700 (Russian-sponsored separatist violence in Crimea and eastern Ukraine) (2021); 3.67 million (2023) (since Russian invasion that started in February 2022); note – the more recent invasion total may reflect some double counting, since it is impossible to determine how many of the recent IDPs may also include IDPs from the earlier Russian-sponsored violence in Crimea and eastern Ukraine

stateless persons

36,459 (2022); note - citizens of the former USSR who were permanently resident in Ukraine were granted citizenship upon Ukraine's independence in 1991, but some missed this window of opportunity; people arriving after 1991, Crimean Tatars, ethnic Koreans, people with expired Soviet passports, and people with no documents have difficulty acquiring Ukrainian citizenship; following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, thousands of Crimean Tatars and their descendants deported from Ukraine under the STALIN regime returned to their homeland, some being stateless and others holding the citizenship of Uzbekistan or other former Soviet republics; a 1998 bilateral agreement between Ukraine and Uzbekistan simplified the process of renouncing Uzbek citizenship and obtaining Ukrainian citizenship

State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU; established 1992 as the National Space Agency of Ukraine or NSAU; renamed in 2010) (2024)

SSAU/NSAU inherited a large and well-developed space program when it took over all of the former Soviet defense/space industrial industry that was located on the territory of Ukraine upon the country’s declaration of independence in 1991; prior to the 2014 Russia takeover of Crimea and support for separatists in Ukraine’s Donbas region, Ukraine’s space efforts largely provided support to the Russian space program, including the production of satellite/space launch vehicles (SLVs)/rocket carriers and their components; today, it develops and produces SLVs/rocket carriers, spacecraft, satellites, and satellite sub-components both independently and jointly with numerous foreign space agencies and private space industry companies, including those of Brazil, Canada, China, the European Space Agency (ESA) and its member states (particularly Italy and Poland), Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia (curtailed after 2014), Turkey, and the US; prior to the full scale Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukraine was producing more than 100 SLVs, SLV stages, or SLV engines annually, and since 1991, over 160 rockets and more than 370 spacecraft had been manufactured by Ukraine or produced with its participation; as of 2022, SSAU had 16,000 employees and controlled 20 state-run corporations in Ukraine's “space cluster,” a region between the cities of Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Kyiv (note – Dnipro, known as Ukraine's “Rocket City,” was one of the Soviet Union’s main centers for space, nuclear, and military industries and played a crucial role in the development and manufacture of both civilian and military rockets); in 2019, the Ukrainian Parliament began allowing private companies to engage in space endeavors, including launching rockets into space and allowing companies to negotiate with foreign companies without the state’s approval; previously, only state-owned companies could do so (2024)

note

note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in the Space Programs reference guide

carbon dioxide emissions

202.25 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions

63.37 megatons (2020 est.)

particulate matter emissions

13.51 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

temperate continental; Mediterranean only on the southern Crimean coast; precipitation disproportionately distributed, highest in west and north, lesser in east and southeast; winters vary from cool along the Black Sea to cold farther inland; warm summers across the greater part of the country, hot in the south

air and water pollution; land degradation; solid waste management; biodiversity loss; deforestation; radiation contamination in the northeast from 1986 accident at Chornobyl' Nuclear Power Plant

party to

Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified

Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds

severe localized food insecurity

due to conflict - Ukraine continues to be a significant supplier of food commodities for the world; however, according to a 2023 analysis, at least 17.6 million people are estimated to be in need of multi-sectoral humanitarian assistance in 2023 due to the war, including over 11 million in need of food security and livelihood interventions; the harvest of the 2023 winter cereal crops, mostly wheat, is onging and will be concluded by August; as a result of a smaller planted area, the 2023 wheat harvest in areas under government control is estimated at 18.5 million mt, about 8% below the already war‑affected 2022 output; despite decreased cereal production, food availability at the national level is reported to be adequate, but access remains a major challenge; the country has already experienced elevated levels of food price inflation in the past, due to the economic impact of the conflict in eastern areas; in addition, rising energy costs, amidst high unemployment rates and limited livelihood opportunities, are reducing households’ purchasing power and driving more people into poverty (2023)

agricultural land

71.2% (2018 est.)

agricultural land: arable land

arable land: 56.1% (2018 est.)

agricultural land: permanent crops

permanent crops: 1.5% (2018 est.)

agricultural land: permanent pasture

permanent pasture: 13.6% (2018 est.)

forest

16.8% (2018 est.)

other

12% (2018 est.)

Dunay (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km; Dnipro (Dnieper) river mouth (shared with Russia [s] and Belarus) - 2,287 km; Dnister (Dniester) river source and mouth (shared with Moldova) - 1,411 km; Vistula (shared with Poland [s/m] and Belarus) - 1,213 kmnote – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Black Sea) Danube (795,656 sq km), Don (458,694 sq km), Dnieper (533,966 sq km)

0.42% of GDP (2018 est.)

0.34% of GDP (2018 est.)

175.28 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural

3.06 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial

4.04 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

municipal

2.77 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

rate of urbanization

-0.27% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

urban population

70.1% of total population (2023)

municipal solid waste generated annually

15,242,025 tons (2016 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually

487,745 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled

3.2% (2015 est.)