Trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and the Kingdom of Sweden

Over the past several years, trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and the Kingdom of Sweden has been steadily developing. Sweden is Ukraine’s largest economic and trade partner among the Nordic countries.

According to the latest statistics from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, in 2019 Ukrainian-Swedish trade turnover in goods and services totaled 708.4 million U.S. dollars, which was 2% increase compared to the previous year.

There was an increase in exports of Ukrainian goods to Sweden by 9.8% amounting to 77.1 million U.S. dollars. The main items of Ukrainian exports to Sweden include, among others, ferrous metals, wood and wood products, furniture, plastics and polymers, nuclear reactor components, textile clothing.

Import of goods from Sweden increased by 5% over the period of 2019 and amounted to 489 million U.S. dollars. Ukraine mostly imported nuclear reactor components, cars and mechanisms, paper and cardboard, transport equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electrical machines as well as vegetable and animal oils and fats.

At the beginning of 2020, there is a certain decrease in both exports of goods from Ukraine to Sweden (by 15.3% in the first two months of 2020) and imports of Swedish goods to Ukraine (by 33.7% in January-February 2020).

Sweden currently ranks tenth among Ukraine’s largest EU investors. As of the beginning of 2020, the volume of Swedish investments in Ukrainian economy amounted to 363.2 million U.S. dollars (increased by 5.3%).

The Ukrainian-Swedish economic ties are robust but huge scope remains for greater bilateral trade and investment. There are approximately 90 Swedish companies having a presence in Ukraine and many others are exploring the possibilities for further tie-ups. Potential areas of collaboration include telecommunications, energy efficiency and environmental protection, nuclear safety, waste management, agriculture and the sphere of finance, tourism etc.