Ukraine Posts a $70 Million Deficit in Foreign Trade in Dairy Products

This was reported by the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine (UDEU) following an analysis of foreign trade in dairy products for January–August 2026.

Experts note that Ukraine’s total foreign trade in dairy products in January–August 2026 amounted to $424.1 million, only 0.8% higher than in the corresponding period of 2025 ($420.6 million). However, behind the almost unchanged total volume lies a fundamental shift in the structure of trade: the country sharply increased imports of dairy products against the backdrop of a significant decline in exports.

Exports of dairy products in January–August 2026 amounted to $176.9 million — 20.5% less than in the first eight months of 2025 ($222.3 million).

In physical terms, growth was recorded for certain product categories: fermented dairy products (+28%), whey (+1.1%) and cheese (+0.9%). At the same time, butter shipments decreased significantly — by half — while exports of powdered and condensed milk fell by 7%.Imports of dairy products in the first eight months of 2026 increased to $247.2 million — 24.7% higher than in January–August 2025 ($198.3 million).In physical terms, the largest increases were recorded in the following categories: drinking milk and liquid cream — 3.7 times; butter — 2.6 times; whey — 1.7 times; cheese — by 26%; fermented dairy products — by 17%.

The export-import balance for dairy products in January–August 2026 was negative and amounted to $70.3 million. For comparison, in the same period of 2025, the balance was positive at $24.1 million.

«Accordingly, the export-to-import ratio declined to 0.72 from 1.12 a year earlier. In other words, while in 2025 Ukraine exported more dairy products than it imported, in 2026 almost one and a half dollars of imports correspond to every dollar of exports,» the Union concluded.