Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Clothing and Footwear Prices in Ukraine Fell by 5.6% Over Past Year — State Statistics Service

In July 2026, prices for clothing and footwear in Ukraine fell by 4.8% compared to June and by 5.6% compared to July of last year, according to data from the State Statistics Service. Clothing prices fell by 5.8% over the month and by 5.4% year-over-year. Footwear prices fell by 3.5% and 6.1%, respectively.

Compared to December 2025, the entire “clothing and footwear” category fell in price by 4.5%, including clothing by 6.5% and footwear by 2%.

In January–July 2026, prices for clothing and footwear were, on average, 5.5% lower than during the same period in 2025. At the same time, the overall consumer price index rose by 7.8% over these two periods.

Clothing and footwear thus remain one of the largest categories in the consumer basket where the State Statistics Service has recorded price declines amid overall inflation.

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Water Rates in Ukraine Rose by More Than 30% in July — State Statistics Service

The cost of water supply in Ukraine in July 2026 rose by 31.9% compared to June, while the cost of sewer services rose by 29.8%, according to data from the State Statistics Service. On a year-over-year basis, water supply prices rose by 52.1%, and sewerage services by 48.8%. A similar increase was recorded compared to December 2025.

As a result, the entire “housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels” group rose in price by 1.6% month-over-month in July and by 4.5% compared to July of last year.

The cost of garbage collection rose by 5.1% month-over-month and by 16.2% year-over-year. Maintenance of buildings and surrounding areas rose by 5.8% year-over-year.

At the same time, the statistical cost of electricity, natural gas, hot water, and heating in July remained unchanged both compared to June and year-over-year.

Thus, the July spike in the utility component was primarily due to a sharp increase in the cost of water supply and sewer services.

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Inflation in Ukraine Accelerated to 7.7% in July

Consumer prices in Ukraine rose by 0.3% in July 2026 compared with June, while annual inflation accelerated to 7.7% from 7.2% a month earlier, according to data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Since the beginning of the year, consumer prices have risen by 6%. In January–July 2026, they were 7.8% higher than in January–July 2025.

The acceleration in annual inflation is partly due to the base effect: in July 2025, prices fell by 0.2%. However, the current rate of 7.7% remains lower than the 8.2% recorded in May.
Core inflation slowed to 0.3% in July from 0.5% in June and 0.7% in May. On an annual basis, it remained at 8.1%.

The trends in individual components of the consumer basket varied significantly. Food and non-alcoholic beverages fell in price by 0.2% over the month, while clothing and footwear fell by 4.8%. At the same time, housing and utilities rose by 1.6%, and transportation by 1.3%.
At the end of July, the NBU raised its inflation forecast for the end of 2026 from 9.4% to 10%, and its core inflation forecast from 7.2% to 9.2%. The regulator attributes the increase in underlying price pressures to rising business costs for logistics, labor, and energy resources.

Data from the State Statistics Service excludes territories temporarily occupied by Russia and parts of the country where hostilities are ongoing or have taken place.

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Business Sentiment in Ukraine’s Construction Market Has Improved – State Statistics Service

The business confidence index for Ukraine’s construction market rose by 4 percentage points (pp) in the third quarter of 2026 compared to the second quarter, reaching “minus” 21.1%, according to the State Statistics Service (State Statistics Service). According to a survey of construction companies conducted by the agency, the assessment of the current volume of orders improved by 6.3 p.p. to “minus” 35.2%. Thus, 60% of the surveyed companies assessed their current order volume as normal for the season, while 38% assessed it as insufficient.

Sixty-one percent of respondents expect prices for their services to rise by the end of the third quarter of this year. Only 2% of respondents forecast a decrease in the cost of construction work, while 36% do not expect any changes in pricing policy.

According to State Statistics Service data, the companies participating in the survey have an average of six months’ worth of orders, which corresponds to the pre-war level at the beginning of 2022.

The State Statistics Service notes that in the third quarter of 2026, the construction sector will be negatively affected by labor shortages (53.6%), financial constraints (47.9%), insufficient demand (20.7%), and other factors (42.3%).

About 25% of the surveyed companies expect a reduction in their workforce in July–September, while 56% believe their workforce will remain unchanged, and 19% forecast an expansion of their workforce.

According to the State Statistics Service, 43% of respondents reported an increase in the volume of construction work completed in the previous quarter, while 22% reported a decrease.

The survey showed that 98% of Ukrainian construction companies find it quite difficult to predict future business trends.

The statistical data does not include territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation or parts of territories where hostilities are (or were) taking place.

 

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Cattle herd on private farms in Ukraine has decreased by 35%

As of July 1, 2026, the cattle herd on agricultural enterprises in Ukraine had increased by 4% compared to the same date last year—to 955,200 head, while on private farms it decreased by 35%—to 811,800 head, according to the Association of Milk Producers (AMP), citing preliminary data from the State Statistics Service (SSS).

According to State Statistics Service data, as of July 1, 2026, there were 1.767 million head of cattle in Ukraine, including 941,200 cows.
About 54% of the cattle herd was kept on agricultural enterprises, and another 46% on private farms.

Agricultural enterprises had 396,600 cows, which is 4% more than a year ago, while the number of cows on private farms decreased by 29% to 544,600 head.

“The cow herd is shrinking mainly in the backyard farming sector but remains relatively stable in the commercial sector. The decline in the cattle herd is a long-standing problem in Ukraine due to the lack of an effective government program to support dairy farming. Since 2014, the cow herd in the commercial and backyard farming sectors has nearly halved, and the situation has been further exacerbated by Russia’s full-scale invasion and unfavorable market conditions,” the AVM emphasized.

The association noted that the recovery of the herd is being negatively impacted by low milk purchase prices, rising production costs, the relocation of farms from frontline regions, and adaptation to EU environmental and phytosanitary requirements.

According to the AVM’s assessment, without the modernization of dairy processing plants and an increase in purchase prices, there is a risk of a further reduction in the herd size, as farmers are increasingly selling their livestock amid high global beef prices.

According to the State Statistics Service, the largest herds of dairy cows in the commercial sector are concentrated in Poltava Oblast—52,800 head, Cherkasy Oblast—46,000 head, Chernihiv Oblast—38,800 head, Kyiv Oblast—35,600 head, and Vinnytsia Oblast—33,000 head. In total, these five regions account for about 52% of Ukraine’s commercial cow herd.

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Agricultural production in Ukraine fell by 1.6% in first half of year

Agricultural output in Ukraine from January through June 2026 decreased by 1.6% compared to the same period in 2025, while growth for the first five months stood at 1.4%, according to the State Statistics Service (Derzhstat).

According to the published data, the negative trend was driven by the crop production sector at agricultural enterprises, where a decline of 14.8% was recorded.

In contrast, the livestock sector at agricultural enterprises showed growth of 10.7%.

The best performance in crop production across all categories of farms was recorded in the following regions: Volyn (80.1%), Kherson (54.5%), Dnipropetrovsk (23.8%), Ternopil (20.7%), and Cherkasy (16.3%).

The most significant decline in crop production across all categories of farms was recorded in Donetsk Oblast (52.6%), Zaporizhzhia Oblast (35.6%), and Odesa Oblast (34.3%).

The best performance among farms of all categories in the livestock sector was recorded in Kyiv (9.1%), Cherkasy (8.2%), Dnipropetrovsk (6.6%), Chernihiv (7%), and Kirovohrad (5.9%) regions.

The most significant decline in production among farms of all categories in the livestock sector was recorded in the Donetsk (53.9%), Zakarpattia (32.9%), and Kherson (16.3%) regions.

As previously reported, agricultural production in Ukraine decreased by 6.8% in 2025 compared to 2024.

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