2008–2009 Ukrainian financial crisis

Ukraine was hit heavily by the Great Recession, the World Bank expected Ukraine's economy to shrink 15% in 2009 with inflation having been 16.4%.

The deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade in goods and services January through September 2009 was estimated at $1.08 billion, which was 9.5 times down on the same period in 2008, export of goods over the period decreased by 48.7%, to $27.478 billion, while imports fell by 53.5%, to $31.570 billion; export of services dropped by 23.2%, to $6.841 billion, while imports were down by 19.9%, to $3.829 billion (the deficit of Ukraine's foreign trade over the first nine months of 2008 was estimated at $10.284 billion, which was 2.7 times up on the same period of 2007).

According to a forecast by the State Employment Centre, unemployment in Ukraine would triple to 9% in 2009 (there was 3% unemployment at the end of 2008), which would mean about 3 million people would apply for employment services. In September 2009, the official level of unemployment was 1.9%. 95% of the population of Ukraine had felt the influence of the financial crisis; in July 2009 21% of them stated that "The crisis has a catastrophic impact on me and my family", this figure dropped to 17% in October 2009. Actual year-on-year wages in Ukraine fell in October 2009 by 10.9%, while in October 2008, it grew by 4.8% year-over-year according to the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine. The real incomes for Ukrainians in 2009 fell down 8.5% while the nominal income went up 6.2%. The Ukrainian economy shrank 15 percent in 2009. The second Tymoshenko Government had predicted GDP growth of 0.4% in 2009 and a slowdown in inflation to 9.5% (also in 2009), although the overwhelming majority of economists considered this forecast to be excessively optimistic.

The Ukrainian economy recovered in the first quarter of 2010.