Representatives of the tourism sector paid UAH 1 billion 613 million in taxes to the state budget in January–June 2025, which is 29% more than in the same period of 2024, according to the press service of the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine.
According to the head of the State Agency for Tourism Development, Natalia Tabaka, in addition to inflationary factors, the growth is explained by the revival of domestic tourism. In particular, the number of taxpayers is also growing: as of the first half of 2025, the number of registered business entities operating in the tourism sector exceeded 14,500, which is 5% more than in the same period last year.
Hotels remain among the leading taxpayers, accounting for 71% of total revenue, or UAH 1.144 billion. For comparison, in 2024, this amount was UAH 809 million, in 2023 – UAH 570 million, and in pre-war 2021 – UAH 665 million.
Tour operators paid almost UAH 195 million in the first half of this year (UAH 165 million in the first half of 2024 and UAH 88 million in 2023).
Travel agencies paid UAH 153 million in the first half of the year, which is 49% more than in the same period of 2024.
Recreation centers and children’s camps paid more than UAH 92 million, 18% more than last year.
As for the tourist tax, local budgets received more than UAH 142.5 million in the first half of 2025, which is 34% more than in the same period last year. The number of tourist tax payers also increased: from 4,945 in the second quarter of 2024 to 5,717 in the second quarter of 2025.
The top five regions in terms of tourist tax revenue are Kyiv (UAH 33.6 million), Lviv region (UAH 26.5 million), Ivano-Frankivsk region (over UAH 22 million), Zakarpattia region (almost UAH 12 million), and Kyiv region (UAH 7.5 million).
This amount of revenue is UAH 37.6 billion, or 13.4% more than in the same period of 2024. Among the main budget-forming goods that provided the largest revenues in January-June 2025, the following are in the lead:
– petroleum products – UAH 71.1 billion;
– passenger and freight vehicles – UAH 30.3 billion;
– petroleum gases – UAH 9.3 billion;
– mineral fertilizers – UAH 6.8 billion;
– fungicides, herbicides – UAH 6.0 billion;
– telephone sets – UAH 4.1 billion;
– cigars, cigarillos, and cigarettes – UAH 4.0 billion;
– coal – UAH 3.9 billion.
The main budget-forming goods, whose import growth ensured a significant increase in customs revenues in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, were:
– petroleum products – by UAH 8.2 billion;
– petroleum gases – by UAH 4.8 billion;
– passenger cars – by 3.7 billion UAH;
– cigars, cigarettes, cigarillos – by 3.2 billion UAH;
– coal – by 2.3 billion UAH;
– agricultural machinery and equipment – by 1.1 billion UAH;
– electricity – by 1.1 billion UAH.
In turn, customs revenues were affected by a steady increase in the share of customs duties assessed on the import of certain goods into Ukraine in accordance with the legally approved list of exemptions. Thus, the total amount of customs duty exemptions on imports of goods in January-June of this year amounted to UAH 140.12 billion, which is 42% or UAH 41.61 billion more than in January-June 2024.
Receipts of taxes, fees and mandatory payments to the general fund of the state budget of Ukraine, according to operational data, amounted to UAH 151.6 billion in May, compared to UAH 154.6 billion in April and UAH 164.3 billion in March, such operational data (as of 16:00 on May 31) reported the Ministry of Finance on its website.
According to its data, in May, through the State Tax Service revenues recovered to 99.8 billion UAH from 59.7 billion UAH in April, which is slightly less than 105.7 billion UAH in March.
It is specified that in May, income tax revenues increased to UAH 42.0 billion after falling to UAH 3.2 billion in April, partially offset by a one-time transfer of UAH 38.64 billion of profits by the National Bank. As reported, in March and February, income tax brought over UAH 60 bln monthly to the state budget, but part of it was paid in advance.
As for other taxes, personal income tax and military levy increased to UAH 17.3 billion (UAH 16.5 billion) in May, rent tax increased to UAH 5.8 billion (UAH 5.5 billion), and excise tax decreased slightly to UAH 11.4 billion (UAH 11.5 billion).
Value-added tax also fell to UAH 20.2 billion (UAH 22.8 billion): UAH 32.8 billion (UAH 34.8 billion) was collected and UAH 12.7 billion (UAH 12.0 billion) was refunded.
Receipts from the State Customs Service increased in May slightly decreased to UAH 48.4 billion from UAH 48.9 billion in April.
The Ministry of Finance pointed out that the monthly revenue estimates for the general fund of the state budget, according to operational data, were exceeded by 8.6% (+12.0 billion UAH), including by the State Tax Service – by 6.6% (+6.2 billion UAH), while the State Customs Service – by 12.1% (+5.2 billion UAH).
At the same time, there were no receipts to the general fund of the state budget of international aid in the form of grants, while in April they amounted to UAH 2.7 billion, in March – UAH 3.1 billion.
“In general, according to operational data, at the end of May 2024, the general and special funds of the state budget received 227.4 billion UAH (in April – 200.8 billion UAH, in March – 225.9 billion UAH) of taxes, fees and other payments. In addition, about UAH 42.0 billion (in April – UAH 40.1 billion) in the form of ERUs was received by the Pension Fund and social insurance funds,” the ministry added, thanking taxpayers for their contribution to the support of the Ukrainian army and financial stability of the country.
Data on expenditures in May are not yet available.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the state budget for 2024 with a deficit of UAH 1.57 trillion, or 20.6% of projected GDP. Revenues of the state budget-2024 are set at UAH 1.77 trillion (not taking into account possible grant aid), expenditures – UAH 3.36 trillion at an average annual exchange rate of UAH 40.7/$1.
State budget-2023 revenues amounted to UAH 2.67 trillion, of which grant aid amounted to UAH 0.43 trillion. Cash expenditures of the state budget last year exceeded UAH 4 trillion, while the deficit amounted to UAH 1.33 trillion at an average annual exchange rate of about UAH 36.6/$1.
In late May, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko estimated the need for additional military expenditures in the 2024 state budget at $5 bln, while according to the head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy Daniil Getmantsev, “expert estimates that the actual gap is at least twice as large as the current estimate of UAH 200 bln ($5 bln) are not far from the truth”.
In this regard, the possibility of raising the military levy and value-added tax, as well as a number of excise taxes, is being considered.
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The state budget deficit of Ukraine in December 2023 amounted to a record UAH 285 billion, compared to UAH 145.1 billion in November and UAH 98.4 billion in October, according to the State Treasury. It specified that the general fund deficit jumped to UAH 274.4 billion from UAH 162.5 billion in November and UAH 87.7 billion in October. The Ministry of Finance noted that the cash expenditures of the state budget in December also became a record and exceeded UAH 548.2 billion compared to UAH 337.9 billion in November and UAH 292.1 billion in October.
The general fund expenditures increased to UAH 397.7 billion from UAH 286.3 billion in November and UAH 228.1 billion in October.
According to the Ministry of Finance, in December 2023, revenues to the general fund of the state budget increased slightly to UAH 127.1 billion from UAH 121.7 billion in November, which is, however, less than UAH 139.4 billion in October, while US grant international assistance amounted to UAH 20.5 billion, while in November it was not, and in October it amounted to UAH 42 billion.
In total, in 2023, state budget revenues amounted to UAH 2.67 trillion, including UAH 1.66 trillion from the general fund, of which UAH 425.4 billion was international grant aid (the US – UAH 400.5 billion).
Last year’s cash expenditures of the state budget exceeded UAH 4 trillion, including UAH 3.03 trillion from the general fund, or 98% of the plan, compared to 93% a month earlier.
According to the Ministry of Finance, in 2023, the state budget was executed with a deficit of UAH 1.33 trillion, including a deficit of UAH 1.36 trillion in the general fund against the deficit of UAH 1.83 trillion planned in the general fund plan.
In 2022, the state budget was executed with a deficit of UAH 911.1 billion, including UAH 909.5 billion in the general fund, including UAH 99 billion and UAH 101.3 billion in December, respectively, and in pre-war 2021, the deficit of the general fund of the state budget of Ukraine was equal to UAH 166.8 billion.
State budget expenditures in 2022 amounted to UAH 2.70 trillion, including UAH 2.41 trillion for the general fund, which was 91.7% higher than in 2021. In December 2022, cash budget expenditures amounted to UAH 408.8 billion, including UAH 330.5 billion for the general fund.
The general fund of the state budget in 2022 received UAH 1.491 trillion, of which grant funding amounted to UAH 480.6 billion, while in 2021 revenues amounted to UAH 1.084 trillion. In December 2022, the general fund revenues amounted to UAH 229.2 billion, of which UAH 138.4 billion was grant aid.
As reported, on October 6, the Verkhovna Rada approved the next amendments to the state budget for 2023, mainly to increase spending on the security and defense sector. The new amount of state budget expenditures amounted to UAH 3 trillion 393.0 billion, including UAH 3 trillion 94.5 billion for the general fund, while revenues amounted to UAH 1 trillion 416.4 billion, including UAH 1 trillion 253.9 billion for the general fund. The limit for the deficit was set at UAH 2 trillion 10.35 billion, including UAH 1 trillion 834.6 billion for the general fund.
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The macro forecast of the Ministry of Economy, which formed the basis of the draft state budget-2024, assumes a sharp improvement in the security situation from the second half of next year and, as one of the consequences, an acceleration of economic growth to 5% in 2024 and 7-7.5% in 2025-2026.
“Further economic development of Ukraine depends on the duration and active phase of military operations… Thanks to the military successes of Ukrainian defenders and protectors, a significant reduction of security risks is expected from the second half of 2024, which will positively affect the indicators of economic and social development of Ukraine for 2025-2026,” the document says.
According to the forecast, dated mid-June this year, inflation (at the end of the year) will fall to 10.8% next year, to 7% in 2025 and 5.8% in 2026.
Other estimates include unemployment falling from 18.8% this year to 10.8% in 2026.
In the formation of the revenue side is expected to increase revenues from the National Bank in 2025 to 103.9 billion UAH from 17.7 billion UAH in 2024 with a subsequent reduction to 15.4 billion UAH.
As reported, the government on Friday approved the draft state budget-2024 with revenues of UAH 1 trillion 746.3 billion, expenditures of UAH 3 trillion 108.2 billion and a marginal deficit of UAH 1 trillion 593.6 billion.
In relation to the current law on the state budget-2023, it is proposed to increase revenues by 25.6%, expenditures – by 7.6%, and reduce the deficit by 7.3%.
At the same time, this week the government submitted to the Rada a draft law No. 10038 with amendments to the state budget-2023 to increase its expenditures by 328.5 billion hryvnias due to the growth of internal loans by 207.6 billion hryvnias and external loans by 91.2 billion hryvnias.
Compared to it, revenues in the draft state budget-2024 are higher by 23.3%, or by 329.9 billion UAH, while expenditures are lower by 2.5%, or by 84 billion UAH, and the deficit – by 20.7%, or 416.8 billion UAH.
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Representatives of Ukraine’s tourism industry in January-June 2023 paid 897.848 million UAH to the budget, the press service of the State Agency for Tourism Development (SART) told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
It is specified that this is 11% more than for the first half of 2022 (809.435 million UAH), and 17.5% less than for the first half of 2021, when 1 billion 88.945 million UAH was transferred to the state budget from the tourism industry.
The press release informs that in this reporting period, the total number of taxpayers engaged in tourism activities decreased by 23% compared to January-June last year. At the same time, the number of legal entities decreased by 28%, while the number of individuals – by 21%. If we compare this indicator with the same period of 2021, the total reduction in the number of taxpayers amounted to 36% (-45% for legal entities and -32% for individuals).
The largest share of revenues to the state budget was provided by hotels – 63%, or 569.828 million UAH, while in January-June last year they paid 460.498 million UAH, and for the same period in 2021 – 665.420 million UAH.
At the same time, in January-June this year decreased the amount of tax paid from the activities of tourist bases and children’s recreation camps, which provided 60.428 million UAH of deductions against 73.012 million UAH for the same period last year and 178.921 million UAH for the first two quarters of 2021.
The amount of taxes paid from the activities of campgrounds and parking lots for RVs for two quarters of this year almost doubled to UAH 1.492 million against UAH 731 thousand in January-June 2022, but decreased by 26% compared to the first half of 2021.