The economy of Ukraine is an emerging free market, with a gross domestic product that fell sharply for the first 10 years of its independence from the Soviet Union and then experienced rapid growth from 2000 until 2008. Formerly a major component of the economy of the Soviet Union, the country's economy experienced a deep recession during the 1990s, including hyperinflation and a drastic fall in economic output. In 1999, at the lowest point of the economic crisis, Ukraine's per capita GDP was about half of the per capita GDP it achieved before independence. GDP growth was first registered in 2000, and continued for eight years. In 2007 the economy continued to grow and posted real GDP growth of 7%. In 2008, Ukraine's economy was ranked 45th in the world according to 2008 GDP (nominal) with the total nominal GDP of 188 billion USD, and nominal per capita GDP of 3,900 USD.
However Ukraine was greatly affected by the economic crisis of 2008 and as a result a 15.1% decrease in Ukraine's GDP took place over 2008 and 2009. Inflation slowed in July 2009 and stayed at about 8% since. The Ukrainian currency, which had been pegged at a rate of 5:1 to the U.S. dollar, was devalued to 8:1, and was stabilized at that ratio.
There was 3% unemployment at the end of 2008; over the first 9 months of 2009, unemployment averaged 9.4%. The final official unemployment rates over 2009 and 2010 where 8.8% and 8,4%. Although according to the CIA World Factbook in Ukraine there are "large number of unregistered or underemployed workers".
The Ukrainian economy recovered in the first quarter of 2010. Ukraine's real GDP growth in 2010 was 4.3%, leading to per capita PPP GDP of 6,700 USD. The resumed growth has been helped by growth in neighbouring Russia, which is by far the country's largest trading partner and export market, and to a lesser extent Turkey.
Ukrainian politicians have estimated that 40% of its economy is in fact shadow economy.
Read more about Economy Of Ukraine: Overview, Economic Growth By Years, Natural Resources, Legal Environment, Environmental Issues, Miscellaneous Data
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