‘Survival on pennies’: more than half of Ukrainian pensioners receive less than 97 euros per month

As of the beginning of 2024, Ukraine has registered more than 10.5 million pensioners. 51% of them receive pensions less than 4000 hryvnias (around 97 euros). The highest average pension, 7249 hryvnias (approximately 175 euros), is in Kyiv, while the smallest is 4070 hryvnias (about 98 euros) in the Ternopil region.

This information comes from the OpenDataBot resource, citing data from the Pension Fund.

In general, the trend indicates that residents of industrial regions (mostly in the east and south) have higher pensions, while those in central and western Ukraine receive lower pensions.

The average pension in Ukraine is 5385.25 hryvnias (around 135 euros). More than half of pensioners – 51% – receive payments below 4000 hryvnias (about 97 euros). Only a third of pensioners receive payments higher or at the level of the average pension.

Over the past two years of war, the number of pensioners has decreased by 324,580 people. During the coronavirus epidemic in 2020-2021, the decrease in the number of pensioners was one-third greater.

In 2023, the proportion of pensioners receiving a pension of less than 3000 hryvnias (about 72 euros) decreased from 39% to 30%. The number of those whose pensions range from 3000 (about 72 euros) to 4000 hryvnias (about 97 euros) also decreased from 23% to 21%. However, the number of pensioners receiving payments of 4000 hryvnias (about 97 euros) and above has increased.

Earlier, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine announced that pensions in Ukraine would be indexed by 13% instead of the previous year’s 19.7%.