Every fourth Ukrainian is cutting back on food: poverty in Ukraine has risen to 25.2% in a month

Poverty in Ukraine rose sharply in June 2025, with 25.2% of the population — roughly one in four Ukrainians — now forced to economize on food. At the same time, the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since the start of the full-scale war, reaching 12%.

This was reported by the Center for Economic Strategy.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian State Statistics Service has not been publishing official unemployment data. The research agency Info Sapiens has been independently estimating the unemployment rate.

According to their findings, as of June 2025, unemployment in Ukraine decreased to 12%, the lowest recorded level during the war. However, labor market activity remains lower than it was before the full-scale invasion.

Despite the positive trend in employment, the proxy poverty indicator — the share of respondents forced to cut back on food spending — rose to 25.2% in June 2025.

In recent years, Ukraine has shown a steady decline in unemployment, but poverty levels have remained relatively unchanged.

Earlier reports indicated that 12% of Ukrainians do not have enough money even for food, meaning more than one in ten citizens is facing extreme hardship.

Against this backdrop of growing poverty, the number of Ukrainians who say they are willing to endure the war “for as long as it takes” is starting to decline — for the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion.