In the first nine months of 2025, foreign citizens opened 1,648 individual entrepreneurs (IE) in Ukraine, which is 10% less compared to the same period last year. Despite the decline in business activity, the net increase was 490 new entrepreneurs, as 1,158 foreigners ceased their activities. The share of foreigners among new entrepreneurs is only 0.7%.
This is reported by Finway
Closure Statistics and Gender Distribution Among Foreign Individual Entrepreneurs
During the reporting period, over 213,000 entrepreneurs in total ceased their activities in Ukraine, with only 0.5% being foreigners. The median duration of activity for non-resident entrepreneurs is 3.1 years, while among Ukrainian entrepreneurs this figure is 2.5 years. It is worth noting a record case where an entrepreneur from Russia had an IE for 30 years, which was closed at the beginning of 2025.
“In total, over 213,000 entrepreneurs closed in Ukraine during this period, so the share of foreigners is only 0.5%,” the study states.
Among foreigners opening businesses in Ukraine, men dominate at 69%, while women account for 31%.
Citizenship, Regions, and Sectors of Activity of Foreign Entrepreneurs
The most active in starting entrepreneurial activities are citizens of Azerbaijan (229 IEs, 14%), the Russian Federation (222, 14%), and Uzbekistan (160, 10%). A significant share also comes from representatives of Moldova (125) and Armenia (95).
Among foreigners who closed their IEs in 2025, the largest number are citizens of the Russian Federation — 241 IEs (21%), followed by Azerbaijan (157, 14%), Moldova (102, 9%), Uzbekistan (91, 8%), and Belarus (69, 6%).
Almost every third business opened by a foreigner operates in the retail sector. Following in popularity are public catering (14%), wholesale trade (9%), computer programming (6%), and information services (4%). The highest number of closures also falls within these sectors: retail trade — 37%, programming — 10%, public catering — 9%.
The leaders in the number of registrations of foreign IEs remain Kyiv (544 entrepreneurs), Odesa (300), Kyiv region (138), Kharkiv (104), and Lviv (83) regions. The fewest foreign entrepreneurs are registered in Volyn, Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, and Kherson regions — from 2 to 17 individuals in each.