In January–September 2026, Ukraine exported 14,600 tonnes of live cattle worth $35.3 million, and Lebanon bought more than 90% of that volume. The figures come from Qahwa.Media’s calculations based on State Customs Service data. Lebanon took 13,200 tonnes of animals worth $31.9 million, with the remainder shared between Kazakhstan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Libya.
In September, Lebanon was the only buyer of live cattle from Ukraine: 1,170 tonnes worth $2.93 million, double the volume of September last year, the outlet Agravery reported, as republished by MY.UA.
Sheep and goats also go to the Middle East
The pattern is similar for small livestock. In the first eight months, Ukraine exported 613 tonnes of live sheep and goats worth $922,000; volume grew 14.2% year on year and revenue 43.2%, UkrAgroConsult reported. All of them went to three Arab countries: Lebanon (87.7% of volume), Jordan (8.3%) and Saudi Arabia (4%). Over nine months, customs data show Lebanon bought 534 tonnes of live sheep and goats.
In the scale of Ukraine’s farm exports, live animals remain a small segment: over the same nine months Ukraine sold almost $2 billion worth of wheat. But for Arab markets it is a telling segment. Middle Eastern countries traditionally buy live animals, not only meat, and Ukrainian livestock producers have already tapped that demand. Chilled and frozen beef, by contrast, goes mainly to Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
Background
Lebanon is one of the largest Arab buyers of Ukrainian farm products. In January–September 2026, Ukraine exported $304 million worth of goods there, mostly sunflower oil, maize and wheat (Qahwa.Media calculations based on State Customs Service data). In the 2025/26 season, Lebanon also bought a record 110,000 tonnes of Ukrainian barley, Latifundist reported.
