The level of the real average salary in Ukraine remains significantly lower than the official data from the State Statistics Service, which is due to the exclusion of income from micro-enterprises and individual entrepreneurs (IEs).
This is reported by Finway
Underestimation of Income: Who Is Not Counted by the State Statistics Service
The President of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, Oleksiy Miroshnychenko, emphasizes that state statistics only cover enterprises with 10 or more employees. At the same time, micro-enterprises and IEs, which employ at least 1.5 million Ukrainians, are excluded from official calculations.
“The State Statistics Service conducts statistical observations of enterprises where 10 or more employees work. That is, it does not take into account salaries in micro-enterprises and IEs, where at least 1.5 million workers are employed,” Miroshnychenko stated.
According to him, if we refer to the data from the Pension Fund, the average salary used for calculating pensions in July 2025 was 20,456 UAH. This is 6,000 hryvnias less than the figure declared by the State Statistics Service (26,499 UAH), which represents a difference of about 22%.
Salary Structure in Different Sectors and the Shadow Economy
Oleksiy Miroshnychenko highlights that the highest salaries are traditionally recorded in the IT sector — over 67,000 hryvnias. In comparison, the average salary in the industrial sector is about 29,000 hryvnias, while in the construction sector, it is 22,700 hryvnias.
At the same time, the average salary for posted vacancies in the State Employment Service database is 14,500 hryvnias. Minimum offers start from 8,700 hryvnias.
Moreover, a significant part of the labor market operates in the shadow: according to estimates from international experts, the share of the shadow economy reaches 20%. Miroshnychenko notes that this practice negatively affects the competitive environment and the fair distribution of taxes and fees, particularly the Unified Social Contribution (USC) and the military tax.