Monitoring Living Conditions in Ukraine: 2024 Update
Poverty rates remain elevated and income inequality continues to be higher
- Estimated poverty rate for 2024 is 37%, a slight increase from a poverty rate of 34% in 2023*.
- Income inequality is rising; the Gini coefficient increased to more than 0.4 in 2023 and 2024 from 0.25 in 2021.
- Perceptions on household financial wellbeing continue to decline. In Q2-2023, about 60 percent of respondents described their financial well-being to be worse or much worse than before February 2022. This increased to almost 70 percent in Q4-2024.
Fewer people are working, even though labor demand is high
- The share of households with labor income (wage, self-employment, and agriculture production) dropped, especially among the bottom 20% (B20) of the income distribution. In 2020, 66% of households in the B20 earned labor income compared to 35% in 2024.
- The labor market in 2023 and 2024 is much smaller than before 2022 due to out-migration, long-standing declining population trends, and a larger active military.
- Despite labor market shortages and high labor demand from firms, employment rates in 2024 are lower than before 2022, suggesting labor market mismatch and enduring gender barriers such as household responsibilities ().
A rapidly shifting economy and labor market
- The population and the economy have shifted westward due to active hostilities and destruction to infrastructure, altering economic opportunities across the country.
- More households in urban areas in the West and Central regions are in the top 20 percent of the income distribution in 2024 compared to 2020.
- Among 25-45 years-old workers, the proportion of workers in lower-skill manual labor occupations decreased, with higher proportion in professional occupations. In 2020, about 40% of 25-45 year-old workers were employed as legislators, managers, professionals, or specialists. This rate increased to over half in 2023, and over 60% in 2024.
- The highest paying wage sectors are air transport, IT, financial services, and public security and defense.
Continuity of government functions and basic services but some disruptions are unavoidable
- Pension and social assistance payments are largely paid on-time without disruptions.
- Most children are enrolled in school; however, 35% of school-aged children 6-18 years of age experienced schooling disruptions in Q4-2024.
- Health clinics remain largely open.
- The average number of days with water disruptions increased slightly from 5.2 days in 2023 to 5.7 days in 2024.
- After heavy outages in Q2 and Q3-2024, electricity availability returned in Q4-2024.
- Electricity costs continue to increase. Average monthly electricity payments increased in all regions from Q4-2023 (~474 UAH) to Q4-2024 (over 800 UAH). The highest average costs are in the West region (almost 900 UAH).
* ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ estimated poverty rates are based on microsimulations using 2020 Household Living Conditions Survey (HLCS) and 2023/24 Listening to Ukraine surveys (L2UKR).