IMF ranks Ukraine as Europe's poorest country

IMF ranks Ukraine as Europe's poorest country
Ukraine's per capita GDP in current prices is $2,964.193, the lowest in Europe
By bne IntelliNews October 16, 2018

Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in current prices in US dollar terms stood at $2,964.193 in 2018, according to October's update of the World Economic Outlook published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). That makes Ukraine the poorest country in Europe, behind Moldova ($3,226.717), Belarus ($6,020.043) and Russia ($10,950.492).

According to IMF methodology, GDP is expressed in current US dollars per person and the data is derived by first converting GDP in national currency to US dollars and then dividing it by total population.

Recently, the IMF revised upward Ukraine’s GDP forecast to 3.5% year-on-year vs April's forecast of a 3.2% y/y growth in 2018. At the same time, the World Bank has revised downward its forecast for Ukraine's GDP growth in 2018 to 3.3% y/y from 3.5% y/y.

The nation's GDP grew by 3.8% y/y in March-June, according to Ukraine's state statistics service Ukrstat. The country’s real GDP rose by 3.1% y/y in January-March, or 0.9% quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.

In July, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) revised the nation's 2019 GDP growth forecast to 2.5% year-on-year (vs 2.9% y/y in the previous forecast) due to the waning effects of higher social standards, the tight monetary conditions required to bring inflation back to its target, as well as tight fiscal policy resulting from the need to repay large volumes of public debt.

In 2020, the real economy is expected to grow by 2.9% y/y. "Private consumption, additionally supported by rising remittances thanks to an increase in the number of labour migrants, will remain the main driver of economic growth in the medium-term," the NBU believes.

Meanwhile, investment growth will be restrained by businesses’ higher labour costs. However, the contribution of net exports will remain negative over the forecast horizon, as imports will satisfy a significant portion of domestic demand and capital investment needs, according to the regulator.

Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in current prices in US dollar terms stood at $2,964.193 in 2018, according to October's update of the World Economic Outlook published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). That makes Ukraine the poorest country in Europe, behind Moldova ($3,226.717), Belarus ($6,020.043) and Russia ($10,950.492).

According to IMF methodology, GDP is expressed in current US dollars per person and the data is derived by first converting GDP in national currency to US dollars and then dividing it by total population.

Recently, the IMF revised upward Ukraine’s GDP forecast to 3.5% year-on-year vs April's forecast of a 3.2% y/y growth in 2018. At the same time, the World Bank has revised downward its forecast for Ukraine's GDP growth in 2018 to 3.3% y/y from 3.5% y/y.

The nation's GDP grew by 3.8% y/y in March-June, according to Ukraine's state statistics service Ukrstat. The country’s real GDP rose by 3.1% y/y in January-March, or 0.9% quarter-on-quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.

In July, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) revised the nation's 2019 GDP growth forecast to 2.5% year-on-year (vs 2.9% y/y in the previous forecast) due to the waning effects of higher social standards, the tight monetary conditions required to bring inflation back to its target, as well as tight fiscal policy resulting from the need to repay large volumes of public debt.

In 2020, the real economy is expected to grow by 2.9% y/y. "Private consumption, additionally supported by rising remittances thanks to an increase in the number of labour migrants, will remain the main driver of economic growth in the medium-term," the NBU believes.

Meanwhile, investment growth will be restrained by businesses’ higher labour costs. However, the contribution of net exports will remain negative over the forecast horizon, as imports will satisfy a significant portion of domestic demand and capital investment needs, according to the regulator.

 

Data

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