In January-February 2026, gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 1.2%.
This was announced by Minister of Economy Oleksii Sobolev during the hour of questions to government in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"Economic activity at the beginning of 2026 remained restrained due to the consequences of increased enemy attacks and atypically cold weather conditions, which caused forced production pauses at some enterprises due to energy restrictions. Accordingly, according to the Ministry of Economy, in the first two months there was a slight drop in GDP - by 1.2%," he said.
According to him, the energy, mining, metallurgy and transport sectors were the most affected.
At the same time, a number of factors indicate the temporary nature of such a negative trend.
In particular, some sectors are already showing positive dynamics: domestic trade in January grew by 13%, construction by 3%, and the processing industry is also growing.
In addition, according to the National Bank, business expectations improved in February, and exports of goods continued to grow.
"We expect that activity and positive dynamics will resume with warming and improved energy supply," the minister noted.
According to the forecast of the Ministry of Economy, GDP growth at the end of the year may be about 2%, which is lower than the figure set in the state budget (2.4%).
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, according to the State Statistics Service, in 2025, real gross domestic product increased by 1.8% compared to 2024.
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