The number of Ukrainians living in poverty has increased by 1.8 million since 2020, accounting for about 29% of the population, as the Russian invasion continues to damage the country’s economy.
The World Bank’s regional director for Eastern Europe noted that the situation would have been much worse if Ukraine had not received significant external budgetary support to pay retirement pensions and salaries for teachers, doctors, and other core government services.
According to the World Bank, last year about nine million Ukrainians lived in poverty, with the country’s total population estimated at 32 million. The increase in poverty was caused by a decrease in employment: More than a fifth of the adult population who were working before the war lost their jobs.
In June of last year, almost a quarter of Ukrainians did not have enough money for food and basic needs. However, the recovery in economic growth and the slowdown in inflation helped to improve food security in the second half of the year.