Ukraine’s public debt shrinks by more than $1 billion in one month
Ukraine's national debt decreased during May 2026 (Photo: NBU / Flickr)
In May 2026, Ukraine’s total public and publicly guaranteed debt decreased by 19.96 billion hryvnias ($449 million) in hryvnia terms and by $1.33 billion in dollar terms, while increasing by 0.12 billion euros ($137 million) in euro terms.
As of May 31, Ukraine’s public and publicly guaranteed debt stood at 9.326 trillion hryvnias, or $210.67 billion (181.3 billion euros), the Ministry of Finance reported.
This amount breaks down as follows:
- External debt — 7.272 trillion hryvnias (78 percent of the total public and publicly guaranteed debt), or $164.28 billion (141.38 billion euros);
- Domestic debt — 2.054 trillion hryvnias (22 percent), or $46.39 billion (39.93 billion euros).
The central government debt itself totaled 9.065 trillion hryvnias (97.2 percent), or $204.78 billion (176.23 billion euros).
This includes:
- External debt of 7.076 trillion hryvnias (75.87 percent), or $159.85 billion (137.56 billion euros);
- Domestic debt of 1.989 trillion hryvnias (21.33 percent), or $44.93 billion (38.67 billion euros).
Publicly guaranteed debt stood at 261.05 billion hryvnias (2.8 percent), or $5.9 billion (5.08 billion euros).
This includes:
- External guaranteed debt of 196.33 billion hryvnias (2.11 percent), or $4.44 billion (3.82 billion euros);
- Domestic guaranteed debt of 64.72 billion hryvnias (0.69 percent), or $1.46 billion (1.26 billion euros).
In April, Ukraine’s public debt had increased by $1.18 billion.
As previously reported, Ukrainian authorities reached an agreement with international creditors to defer debt payments until 2030. The goal is to ease pressure on the budget and direct funds toward defense and the country’s recovery.
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