In the Lviv region, 703 citizens of other countries were officially employed from January to May 2026. According to the regional employment center, a significant portion of foreigners arrived from Asian and South American countries, and they found jobs not only in construction but also in IT, industry, trade, and services.
This is reported by Finway
Who is Working in Lviv Region
The most work permits were issued to citizens of Colombia, India, and Turkey. Information about representatives from other countries, as well as detailed distribution by nationality, remains limited. According to official reports, migrants are working in various sectors, including IT, industry, construction, trade, and services, indicating the diversity of professional employment for foreigners in the region. The Facebook page of the Lviv Regional Employment Center mostly contains information about the employment of Ukrainians, but data regarding foreign workers is not publicly available.
Overall Dynamics of Labor Migration
According to Natalia Naumenko, head of the State Migration Service, approximately 48,000 individuals received residence permits in Ukraine from 2022 onwards, while in 2021 there were only 189 such permits. At the same time, the number of work permits issued for labor migrants in 2021 reached 21,700, and in 2025 it was already 9,500, with only half of them holding permits. The largest number of labor migrants comes from Turkey, India, the USA, the UK, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, China, Pakistan, and Colombia. In the first four months of 2026, 2,875 foreigners were officially employed in Ukraine, with about a quarter of them working in the Lviv region. Among them, the largest groups are citizens of India (501 individuals), Azerbaijan (203 individuals), and Pakistan (191 individuals).
“Since 2021, the number of migrants has decreased by four to five times. The highest number of permits, 14-16 thousand individuals, was in 2015-2019, while foreigners were not in a hurry to come to Ukraine, even though there was no war at that time.”
Analysts from the Texty portal note that over the past five years, the dynamics of labor migration to Ukraine have significantly decreased: while 14-16 thousand work permits were issued annually from 2015 to 2019, these figures are now much lower, despite the growing demand for workers in certain sectors of the economy.
The topic of potential labor migration to Ukraine was actively discussed in 2025 as well. According to Mykhailo Nepran, Vice President of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, residents of former Soviet republics and Southeast Asian countries may show potential interest in working in Ukraine, for whom even 10-15 dollars is a significant amount.