98% of the Harvest Comes from Households, Not Companies: Ukraine’s Walnuts and Exports

Ukraine is one of the countries that sells walnuts abroad. According to Ukraine’s own reporting in the UN Comtrade database, in 2024 it exported 23,318 tonnes of shelled walnuts worth $82.68 million. The main destinations were European countries such as France, Romania, and Greece.

Where are those walnuts grown? According to the State Statistics Service, more than 98% of the harvest comes not from agricultural enterprises but from “residents’ households.” Below, in order, are production, the two export categories, destinations, the conditions behind saying a country is “ranked Nth in the world,” and the trade relationship with Japan, based on statistics available as of September 2026.

98% of the Harvest Comes from Households, Not Enterprises

The State Statistics Service’s table on “production of perennial crops” divides the walnut (горіх волоський) harvest between agricultural enterprises (including individual farms) and “households of the population” (господарства населення). The figures are for in-shell weight.

A note to the table states that the households’ harvest figure includes crops from “trees and bushes growing singly outside gardens and vineyards.” That means most of the walnut harvest comes not from orchards run by enterprises, but from trees owned by residents’ households.

There is also a gap in planted area. In 2022, enterprises had planted 4,600 hectares of walnut trees, of which 1,800 hectares had reached bearing age. Households had planted 12,500 hectares, of which 11,600 hectares had reached bearing age (both figures from the State Statistics Service).

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s statistics (FAOSTAT) put Ukraine’s 2023 harvest at 106,120 tonnes (an official figure) and its 2024 harvest at 106,900 tonnes (an FAO estimate). The State Statistics Service’s published table only goes up to 2022.

In-Shell and Shelled: Two Categories in the Trade Statistics

In trade statistics, walnuts are split into two codes. Under the international Harmonized System (HS) of product classification, 0802.31 covers in-shell walnuts and 0802.32 covers shelled walnuts. Shelled walnuts weigh less because the shell has been removed, so the harvest weight in-shell and the export weight cannot be compared directly.

Shelled walnuts are the core of the exports. In 2024, the export value of shelled walnuts was roughly ten times that of in-shell walnuts. Compared with 2019, the weight of shelled walnuts exported fell from 40,775 tonnes to 23,318 tonnes, and in-shell walnuts fell even more sharply.

Where Are They Sold?

Looking at the same database’s 2024 destinations for shelled walnuts by value, the order was France (16.9%), Romania (13.5%), Greece (9.8%), Poland (7.4%), Azerbaijan (6.3%), and the Netherlands (4.9%). In 2021 too, France (16.8%), Greece (10.9%), and the Netherlands (9.0%) were at the top, so the pattern of European countries being the main destinations has not changed.

In-shell walnuts go to different places: in 2024 the top destinations were Iraq (21.0%), Azerbaijan (17.5%), Albania (14.6%), Turkey (12.9%), and Bulgaria (11.3%). The changing EU-Ukraine tariff arrangements are covered in our article on EU-Ukraine tariffs, and Ukraine’s exports as a whole are covered in our article on Ukraine’s export goods.

“Ranked Nth in the World” Depends on What You Compare

Ukraine is sometimes introduced as “one of the world’s leading walnut exporters.” But its rank changes depending on whether you look at in-shell or shelled walnuts, and at weight or value. Ranking Ukraine among the countries that reported 2024 exports to UN Comtrade gives the following.

This table has limits. It does not include countries that had not yet reported their 2024 figures. Nor does the export ranking distinguish whether a country actually grew the walnuts itself: countries higher up the list, such as Germany and the Netherlands, may be re-exporting walnuts bought from elsewhere. When you see a claim of being “ranked Nth,” it is worth checking which year, which category, and whether it is a ranking by weight or by value.

Do They Reach Japan?

Japan buys most of its shelled walnuts from the United States. According to Japan’s own reporting in UN Comtrade, 97.7% of the 18,494 tonnes of shelled walnuts Japan imported in 2024 came from the United States by value, and 92.9% did in 2025, with the rest coming from China, Chile, France, and others. In neither year is any import from Ukraine recorded. In Ukraine’s own 2024 reporting, too, Japan is not listed as a destination for either shelled or in-shell walnuts. The full range of goods Japan buys from Ukraine is covered in our article on Japan’s imports.