Ukraine’s production of white sugar from sugar beet harvested in 2025 fell by 4% to 1.72 million metric tons, the country’s sugar producers’ union, Ukrtsukor, said on Tuesday.
Ukraine produced around 5 million tons of sugar annually during the Soviet period, but output has dropped sharply in subsequent decades, largely because of export constraints, reported Reuters.
Production has also been hit by the war with Russia, which has driven a significant share of the population abroad and led to a steep decline in domestic consumption.
Ukrtsukor said that although sugar beet planting areas shrank by 50,000 hectares, or 23%, compared with the previous year, sugar output declined by only 4%, or about 80,000 tons.
The union noted that last year’s sugar beet harvest delivered record yields of 58 tons per hectare, with sugar content averaging 17.6%.
“These factors helped offset the impact of the reduced acreage,” said Ukrtsukor head Yana Kavushevska.
