Ukrainians secure record number of microloans amid financial challenges

In January-September of this year, Ukrainians secured 6 million microloans totaling 29.1 billion hryvnias. This figure exceeds the total from the previous year but is 1.8 times lower than in the corresponding period of 2021.

Moreover, not only the quantity of microloans has increased but also their average amount and the debt associated with them. These details were provided by OpenDataBot. During the third quarter of this year, there was an average monthly registration of 715 thousand new micro-loans. Compared to the decline at the onset of the full-scale war, the quantity increased but remains 1.7 times lower than the corresponding monthly indicators in 2021.

The third quarter also set another record in terms of the average size of a microloan, amounting to 4,985 hryvnias. This is the largest amount since the full-scale invasion began, nearly a third higher than the corresponding period in 2021. Ukrainians’ debt from microloans increased by 6% per quarter, reaching 9.44 billion hryvnias by the end of September. Despite active efforts by Ukrainians to repay their debts throughout 2022, reducing the overall debt, this year has seen a resurgence in debt, increasing by 1.4 billion hryvnias.