Wages are growing rapidly in Ukraine. The main reason for the growth is the shortage of workers. This is reported in the new macroeconomic and monetary review of the National Bank for January 2025.

" According to the State Statistics Service, in the third quarter of 2024, nominal wages increased by 22. 3% y/y, and real ones - by 14. 2% y/y (according to NBU calculations according to SSSU data),” says the National Bank’s review.

In most types of economic activity (with the exception of education and the arts), real wages are higher than in the third quarter of 2021 (before the full-scale invasion of the Russian Armed Forces).

According to indirect indicators, wage growth continued in the fourth quarter of 2024.

In the absence of official data from the State Statistics Service, the NBU assessed income according to such indicators as the average pension, the average salary for calculating a pension from the Pension Fund of Ukraine, the general unified social contribution (USC), the private sector USC, and personal income tax (NDFL)..

The number of new vacancies and resumes in December decreased compared to previous months. This was caused by the traditional seasonal decline in labor market activity. However, on an annual basis, the volume of vacancies and resumes increased, which indicates a further revival of the market.

Despite a slight increase in labor supply, the labor shortage remains significant and limits the activities of many enterprises. This is especially true for sectors of the economy that need highly qualified workers.

The NBU also noted that according to the UN, the number of migrants outside Ukraine continued to grow slightly and amounted to 6.8 million people as of December 16, 2024. They noted that the adaptation of Ukrainian migrants abroad is growing. Thus, according to a study by the National Bank of Poland, the economic activity of migrants from Ukraine is higher than that of Poles. The highest is among Ukrainians who left before the start of the full-scale invasion (93%), which is explained both by longer adaptation and by the fact that the majority left specifically for the purpose of earning money.

Let us recall that at the beginning of 2025, the Government of Ukraine, in an explanatory note to the law on the state budget of 2025, explained the future growth of salaries of Ukrainians by a deficit in the labor market. It is tentatively believed that citizens will receive 10% more, but in fact, all the growth will be “eaten up” by inflation.