Ukraine economy to shrink by almost half this year, World Bank forecasts

A burnt-out car among destroyed buildings in Kyiv. The country’s GDP is on course to shrink by about 45% in 2022, says the World Bank. Photograph: Alexey Furman/Getty Images

Ukraine’s economy is on course to contract by almost half this year as the Russian invasion and the impact of a “deep humanitarian crisis” takes its toll, the World Bank has said.

With a blockade of Black Sea ports in the south of Ukraine and the havoc caused to industry in the east, the war-torn country’s GDP is projected to shrink by about 45% in 2022.