In April 2026, Ukrainian businesses continued to demonstrate positive assessments of their economic activities, with these indicators improving year-on-year. This is confirmed by the results of the Business Activity Expectations Index (BAEI), which is calculated monthly by the National Bank of Ukraine, except for the break in March – May 2022.
This is reported by Finway
Maintaining positive trends in key sectors
For the second consecutive month, companies from all surveyed sectors positively assessed their business activity. This result was supported by stable international financial assistance, an increase in consumer demand, budgetary investments in infrastructure recovery and road construction, as well as seasonal factors.
At the same time, enterprises felt pressure from rising fuel prices, increasing costs, destruction of production and logistics capacities, high exchange rate and inflation expectations, as well as a shortage of qualified personnel.
In April 2026, the BAEI value was 51.7, slightly lower than the March figure (52.7), but significantly higher than in April 2025 (49.4).
Detailed dynamics of economic sectors
Construction enterprises received the highest assessments of their performance among all sectors for the second consecutive month. This was influenced by favorable weather conditions and budget financing for infrastructure and road recovery. The sector index in construction rose to 55.6 in April from 55.0 in March and 47.3 in April 2025.
Industrial enterprises maintained positive sentiments due to the gradual stabilization of the energy sector and activation of consumer demand: in April, the sector index was 51.5, slightly above the March figure (51.2), but almost matching April 2025 (51.8).
In the trade sector, companies also remained positive about their activities, although they weakened their assessments due to significant fuel price increases and rising business expenses. The sector index in April was 50.8 compared to 54.0 in March and 51.2 in April 2025.
Service sector enterprises provided positive assessments of current business activity for the second consecutive month. This was made possible by the gradual stabilization of the energy system and growth in domestic demand. The sector index in April reached 52.0, slightly below March (52.8), but significantly higher than April 2025 (46.3).
The majority of enterprises predict further increases in prices and tariffs for their products or services due to expected acceleration in the growth of procurement prices, raw materials, and materials. An exception is trade companies, which expect a slowdown in the growth rate of the cost of goods for resale.
“The situation in the labor market has somewhat softened. Respondents from construction and trade were optimistic about the overall number of employees, while industrial and service sector enterprises maintained cautious assessments,” noted the regulator.