What did the UK trade with Ukraine in 2021?

• In 2021, the UK imported £830 million of goods from Ukraine (0.2% of all goods imports) and exported £670 million of goods (0.2% of all goods exports).

• The UK imported £270 million of material manufactures from Ukraine in 2021, which primarily included iron and steel, while the main goods export was machinery and transport equipment (£320 million).

• In the 12 months to September 2021, the UK imported £250 million of services from Ukraine (0.1% of all services exports) and exported £150 million of services (0.1% of all services imports).

• The main services import from Ukraine was transportation (£110 million), specifically air transportation, while the main services export was financial services (£40 million).

There is likely to be significant disruption to supply chains that include Ukraine because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022 and the ongoing conflict. Effects of the conflict are not yet reflected in our latest monthly UK trade datasets. This article includes trade in goods data for 2021 and trade in services data for the 12 months to September 2021 (the latest data available).

In 2021, the UK imported £830 million of goods from Ukraine. This accounted for 0.2% of all goods imports, making Ukraine our 53rd biggest importing partner. There were £670 million of goods exports to Ukraine (0.2% of all goods exports), making Ukraine our 48th biggest exporting partner.

The UK imported £270 million of material manufactures from Ukraine in 2021 (Figure 1), accounting for 0.4% of all imports of this commodity. Material manufactures includes goods that have been manufactured from raw materials such as wood, leather, or metal products. Imports of iron and steel make up a large proportion of the material manufactures imported from Ukraine (Table 1), which are widely used in the construction of roads, railways, and other infrastructure as well as buildings.

The UK imported £200 million of food and live animals from Ukraine in 2021, accounting for 0.5% of all imports of this commodity. This primarily included imports of cereals (£130 million) such as wheat, maize, barley, and rice. The UK imported £140 million of vegetable oils and fats in 2021, accounting for 11.3% of all imports of this commodity.

The main exports from the UK to Ukraine in 2021 were machinery and transport equipment (£320 million) and chemicals (£190 million). Specialised machinery (capital) accounted for £110 million of the machinery and transport equipment exports; this was 1.6% of the UK's total exports of this commodity in 2021. Specialised machinery includes agricultural and civil engineering machinery, as well as machines used for industries such as printing, paper milling, and textile manufacturing. Cars also accounted for £100 million of the machinery and transport equipment exports; this was 0.4% of the UK's total car exports.

Figure 1: The main commodity imported from Ukraine to the UK in 2021 was material manufactures

Trade in goods with Ukraine by commodity type, imports and exports

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In the 12 months to September 2021 (the latest period we have data for), the UK imported £250 million of services from Ukraine (0.1% of all services imports), making Ukraine our 60th biggest importing partner. Over the same period, there were £150 million of services exports to Ukraine (0.1% of all services exports), making Ukraine our 82nd biggest exporting partner.

The main service type imported from Ukraine in 2021 was transportation (Figure 2), with imports of £110 million. This was entirely air transportation, which includes all freight and passenger transport services provided by aircraft, including air fares and any taxes levied on passenger services.

Other business services also accounted for £90 million of services imports to Ukraine in 2021. This covers a wide range of services relating to business such as research and development, legal, and accounting, as well as services such as photography, translation, and security.

Financial services (£40 million) were the largest services export to Ukraine in 2021. Specifically, this was explicitly charged and other financial services (Table 2). This includes fund managers and monetary financial institutions and refers to explicit fees and commissions that do not require special calculation, for example early and late repayment fees and account charges. Travel exports (£20 million) were the next largest services export, and this primarily included personal travel.

Figure 2: Transportation and other business services were the primary services imports from Ukraine to the UK in the 12 months to September 2021

Trade in goods with Ukraine by service type, imports and exports

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Use our interactive map to get a better understanding of what goods the UK traded with Ukraine in 2021. You can explore the full data, which break down UK trade in goods with 234 countries by 125 commodities, using our interactive tools.

Select a country by hovering over it or using the drop-down menu.

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You can also explore the 2021 trade in goods data by commodity, such as iron and steel imports from and car exports to Ukraine.

Select a commodity from the drop-down menu or click through the levels to explore the data.

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Exports

Goods or services sold to other countries, the opposite of imports.

Imports

Purchases of foreign goods and services, the opposite of exports.

Total trade

The value of total trade between two trading partners (that is, exports plus imports).

Trade balance

The trade balance is the difference between exports and imports or exports minus imports. When the value of exports is greater than the value of imports, the trade balance is in surplus. When the value of imports is greater than the value of exports, the trade balance is in deficit.

Precious metals and non-monetary gold

Precious metals include precious metals, silver, platinum, and palladium, and it forms part of the commodity group "unspecified goods". Non-monetary gold comprises most of this group and is the technical term for gold bullion not owned by central banks.

Data within this article are in current prices, which means they have not been adjusted to remove the effects of inflation.

Data sources

Trade is measured through both exports and imports of goods and services. Data are supplied by over 30 sources, including several administrative sources.

Data from the quarterly International Trade in Services (ITIS) Survey make up over 50% of trade in services data. Data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) are the main source for travel services, making up around 8% of total trade.

Data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) make up over 90% of trade in goods value and are the main source. View our UK Trade QMI for more detail on data sources and methods.

Methods

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our UK Trade QMI.

For more information about our methods and how we compile these statistics, please see our Trade in goods, country-by-commodity experimental data: 2011 to 2016 article. Users should note that the data published alongside this release are no longer experimental.

These data are our best estimate of these bilateral UK trade flows. Users should note that alternative estimates are available, in some cases, via the statistical agencies for bilateral countries or through central databases such as the UN Comtrade database.

The interactive charts in Section 4 denote country boundaries in accordance with statistical classifications set out within Appendix 4 of Eurostat's Balance of Payments (BoP) Vademecum (PDF, 1.1MB) and does not represent the UK policy on disputed territories.

This article is the second in our collection of Focus on UK trade articles and follows on from our recent UK trade with Russia: 2021 article. Future articles in this collection will include topics such as fuels and other emerging themes.