Ukrainian GDP decline in Jan-April 2026 narrows to 0.2% - PM

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - Real GDP growth in April helped narrow the contraction, estimated by the Ukrainian State Statistics Service at 0.5% in Q1, to 0.2% in January-April 2026, Ukrainian media quoted Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko as saying.

"After a decline in Q1, Ukraine's GDP, according to the Economy Ministry's estimates, grew 0.9% in April, which helped mitigate the negative GDP dynamics to 0.2% in the first four months of 2026," media outlets quoted Sviridenko as saying on social media.

Domestic trade, the mining and processing industries, including the defense industry, the manufacturing of products key to the energy system's recovery and the food industry are growing today, he said.

"After a difficult February, recovery began in March. Some sectors are demonstrating growth above 10% [...] The Ukrainian economy continues to recover," Sviridenko said.

The International Monetary Fund's updated report projects this year's GDP growth in Ukraine at 2%, and the World Bank at 1.2%, she said.

As reported, the National Bank of Ukraine lowered its GDP growth forecast to 1.3% from 1.8%.

The government's estimates at the core of the 2026 budget continue to project GDP growth in 2026 at 2.4%, but Economy Minister Alexei Sobolev said a few days ago that it may be revised downwards.

State Statistics Service data show that GDP growth in Ukraine slowed to 1.8% in 2025 from 2.9% in 2024 and 5.5% in 2023, after plunging 28.8% in 2022.