In January 2024, drones became one of the top 10 imports for Ukraine, with a total value of $99 million. This accounted for 2% of all imports during that period. The Center for Economic Strategy reported that.
It should be mentioned that $114 million worth of phones were brought into the country, comprising 2.2% of all imports.
They mention that the vast majority (in terms of value) of drones were imported from China, precisely 98%.
To put it in perspective, importing “unmanned aerial vehicles” only made up 0.7% of the total for 2023, which amounts to $441 million.
The share of Chinese imports increased to 21.4% from 16% in 2023. Meanwhile, the share of imports from the European Union fell below 50%.
Recently, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine announced that more than 50% of the 1 million drones of Ukrainian production planned for this year have already been contracted.