Ukraine’s Workforce: An In-Depth Analysis of Salary Levels and Social Challenges
The overall average salary level in Ukraine currently raises serious concerns and highlights a profound issue of excessive exploitation of the workforce at a national scale.
According to data for 2024, the average salary in our country was approximately 20,964 hryvnias, which is roughly 500 euros, whereas in the European Union, this figure is significantly higher—ranging from 1,100 euros in Bulgaria to 4,542 euros in Austria.
Poland’s average salary stands at about 1,650 euros, and Germany’s close to 4,100 euros.
Such disparities underline a severe social divide existing in Ukraine, reflecting the stark contrast between high living costs and low wages.
Expert Andriy Pavlovskyi attributes this situation to the flawed policies pursued by Ukrainian authorities since independence, which have promoted a misguided ideology of cheap labor and built an economy heavily reliant on raw materials.
This approach leads to devaluation of labor, lowering the skill level among workers, increasing poverty, and fueling mass migration.
Moreover, Ukraine, like many developing countries, exhibits a low share of labor costs in production costs and minimal wages in the gross domestic product (GDP).
Specifically, the share of wages paid to employees in Ukraine’s GDP declined from 49.9% in 2013 to 38.9% in 2017, stabilizing around 35% in 2024.
Such statistics reveal alarming overexploitation of Ukrainian workers.
Additionally, the portion of wages in the manufacturing cost structure amounted to only 7–9%, compared to 30–45% in Western European countries.
These facts underscore the systemic issues of poor labor rights and the significant gap between economic productivity and fair compensation, adversely impacting the standard of living and social stability in Ukraine.