Extreme poverty rate in Ukraine increases dramatically - economist
Photo: Liudmyla Cherenko, Doctor of Economics (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
In 2023, the number of people who had incomes at the subsistence level was about 9% of the total population, which is 7 times higher than in 2021, according to Ukrainian Doctor of Economics Liudmyla Cherenko.
According to Cherenko, in the first years of the war between Russia and Ukraine, from 2014 to 2015, poverty in Ukraine increased from 16.3% to 51.9%.
“And this phase of the war is even more extensive, and we could have expected much worse. We could have expected poverty to increase incredibly, even to 80-90%. But this did not happen,” she added.
The expert explained that at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, three possible scenarios were built. In the end, it turned out that Ukraine still followed the more optimistic scenario.
At the same time, Cherenko noted that during the war, there was a significant increase in extreme poverty, with incomes close to the official subsistence level (2,920 hryvnias in 2024).
“In 2021, we had 1.3% of people with incomes at this level. It is within the statistical margin of error. If not for the full-scale war, we would not have recorded this figure at all in 2023. But in 2023, there were almost 9% of such people, a sevenfold increase,” she added and explained that, first of all, we are talking about pensioners, people who found themselves in a situation of loss of property, or, for example, loss of a home.
Budget for 2025
In November, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law on the state budget for 2025. The budget includes a deficit of UAH 1 trillion 640.6 billion, which will be partially covered by support from Kyiv's allies.
As Cherenko explained, the budget revenues raised by Ukrainians and partial compensation of the deficit by partner countries helped support the economy this year.
