As of April 2025, 10.3 million pensioners live in Ukraine. Over the past year, their number has decreased by 176 thousand, reports the Pension Fund with reference to the Analytics "Openatable". Although the nominal amount of payments increased by 10%, inflation ate this increase - and pensioners are poor.
The average pension amount after this year's indexation is UAH 6 341 (about $ 152). But even this amount does not allow you to talk about a decent standard of living. After all, every third pensioner in Ukraine (32.3%) receives only 3,340 UAH - less than $ 85. And another 398 thousand Ukrainians live less than 3,000 UAH.
According to PFU data, the picture is as follows:
| Pension size | Number of persons | A fraction of the total |
|---|---|---|
| over 10,000 UAH | 1 499 274 | 14,5% |
| 5 001-10 000 UAH | 2 987 845 | 28,9% |
| 4 001-5 000 UAH | 2 105 500 | 20,4% |
| 3 001-4 000 UAH | 3 340 489 | 32,3% |
| 2 001–3 000 UAH | 398 267 | 3,9% |
That is, more than half of pensioners (52.7%) receives less than UAH 5,000, which is lower even the official subsistence minimum.
Expected, the highest payments are in the capital. In Kiev, the average pension is 8 708 UAH, which is 37% higher than the Ukrainian level. In the second and third places - Donetsk (7 814 UAH) and Lugansk (7 314 UAH) of the region.
Instead, the lowest pensions - in the western regions: Ternopil region - 4 931 UAH, Chernivtsi - 5 100 UAH.
Most pensioners live in Dnipropetrovsk - 873 thousand, in Kiev - 748 thousand, in Kharkiv - 707 thousand. The least - in the Chernivtsi region (206 thousand).
About 2.9 million Ukrainian pensioners (28%) continue to work. Their average pension is 6 863 UAH, which is slightly higher, but not significantly. This indicates a low standard of living of the elderly, even with the existing income from work.
The government is currently promising to review indexation mechanisms, but without targeted support and deep reform of the pension system, the situation is unlikely to change. Pensions in Ukraine are not about decent old age, but about survival.
