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February 14, 2024In January, Ukrainians withdrew 27 billion hryvnias (661.6 million euros) from their accounts. This is the highest withdrawal of savings since the introduction of martial law in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
According to the report of the National Bank, in January 2024, the total volume of deposits in the banking system decreased by 2.5%, or 27.4 billion hryvnias, leaving 1.05 trillion hryvnias in the accounts.
The last time individual deposit portfolios decreased was in May 2023, when they decreased by less than one billion (987 million hryvnias). However, the current reduction is nearly 28 times greater.
The current withdrawal cannot be compared to the beginning of the major war when, in February 2022, people withdrew 8.9 billion hryvnias from banks, and in May 2022, 4.6 billion hryvnias. This totals 13.5 billion hryvnias over two months, which is half the outflow in January 2024 alone.
There were no decreases in deposits over the last 7 months, and overall in 2023, citizens’ bank investments increased by 16.4% (to 1.08 trillion hryvnias).
In January 2024, people withdrew both hryvnias and foreign currency from their accounts:
- Hryvnia deposits decreased by 2.6% (by 18.8 billion hryvnias), to 692.2 billion hryvnias.
- Foreign currency deposits decreased by 2.1% (by $200 million), to $9.47 billion.
At the same time, Ukrainians began to borrow more actively from banks, especially those offering card loans (opening or increasing credit limits on card accounts) — so-called life loans or current purchase loans. According to the National Bank’s report, in January 2024, consumer lending in banks increased by 2.3% (by 4.9 billion hryvnias), reaching 215.5 billion hryvnias.
Corporate deposits (which had been actively growing in previous months) also decreased in January 2024 by 1.7% (by 21.8 billion hryvnias).