Agri-Food Sector in Ukraine and Poland: A Comparative Analysis Using the Input–Output Model

The war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that Ukraine is strongly integrated with global agricultural markets, is of great importance for the world’s food security, and can effectively compete with Poland in exporting to EU markets. Contrary to Poland, the agri-food sector in Ukraine has not yet been the subject of research using input–output tables. The input–output model has many advantages in studying the structures of individual sectors and their connections with other sectors of the economy and with foreign countries. Therefore, the current study fills the existing research gap. The aim of the article is a comparative analysis of the agri-food sectors in Ukraine and Poland in 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) using the input–output model. The data source is the OECD TiVA database. The main conclusion is that Poland is further along the path of agricultural and food sector development than Ukraine. The study also reveals that in terms of value, the agri-food sector in Ukraine is significantly smaller than in Poland, but it is more important in the Ukrainian economy, with agriculture being its dominant link, while in Poland it is the food industry. The Polish agri-food sector is characterized by a higher import dependency of gross output. Exports play a significant role in the distribution of the gross output of Ukraine’s agriculture and Poland’s food industry. However, the export directions differed significantly. Poland exported mainly to the EU, while Ukraine exported to Asian and Middle Eastern countries.