Ukraine's goods trade deficit surges to $26.4b in 2023

The deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in goods more than doubled last year to 26.4 billion U.S. dollars, official data showed on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

Last year, Ukraine's exports were down 18.7 percent to 35.8 billion dollars due to logistics issues, Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine's first deputy prime minister and economy minister, said on Facebook.

At the same time, imports increased by 12.5 percent to 62.2 billion dollars driven by the purchases of fuel, military goods and medicines.

Ukraine plans to increase its exports by 9 percent this year by diversifying export routes and increasing the security of export logistics.

In 2022, Ukraine's trade deficit rose to 11.1 billion dollars from 4.8 billion dollars in 2021.