The growth of Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) in April-June 2018 was 3.6% compared to the same period in 2017, while the growth rate in the first quarter was lower, namely 3.1%, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine said on Tuesday.

The country's economic growth in Q2 from Q1 (taking into account the seasonal factor) was 0.9%, it said.

"The economy of Ukraine has been growing for 10 consecutive quarters ... An increase in commodity exports has become one of the factors of growth. In the first half of the year, this indicator grew by 12.7% year-over-year," the State Statistics Service said in a release on the government's website.

Commodity exports in physical terms exceeded $23.2 billion, it said. Exports of services from Ukraine rose by 5.7%, to $5.38 billion, which was $2.8 billion higher than imports.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in July estimated the GDP growth in the second quarter of 2018 at 3.2%. The Central Bank predicts the acceleration of the country's economic growth this year to 3.4% from 2.5% last year. At the same time, the NBU expects a slowdown in growth in 2019 to 2.5%, followed by acceleration to 2.9% in 2020.

The World Bank did not change its forecast for the growth of the Ukrainian economy in 2018-2019. It is set at 3.5% and 4%, respectively. At the same time, the World Bank warned that the forecast for 2018 envisages Ukraine's implementation of outstanding reforms. If they are not implemented, economic growth may slow to almost 2%.

The International Monetary Fund retained its forecast for GDP growth in Ukraine in 2018 at 3.2%, while at the same time it lowered the forecast for 2019 to 3.3% from 4%.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has left unchanged its forecast for the growth of the Ukrainian economy in 2018 at the level of 3% and expects the corresponding growth pace will remain in 2019.