Salaries of Ukrainians in Ukraine. Statistically it’s not good

Hardly anyone in Poland remembers the poverty of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Poland simply went bankrupt. Even fewer people know that Ukraine had a slightly higher GDP than Poland at that time (USD 6.1 thousand per person and USD 5.9 thousand per person, respectively). We can draw a simple conclusion from this: Ukrainians lived slightly better then than Poles and theoretically had slightly better prospects for the future. Time has verified the economic decisions made then.

Balcerowicz’s plan worked and after just two years the Polish economy began to grow systematically. Ukraine relied on oligarchs, which favored the development of gigantic corruption, so the effect was opposite to the Polish one. For the first 10 years, Ukraine’s GDP only decreased – by 50%. Ukrainians managed to return to the level of 1990 only in 2006. At that time, Poland was developing consistently.

The difference in the standard of living is best seen in the amount of salaries, which in Poland increase every year. The Ukrainian statistical office published data on average wages – in July 2026 they decreased slightly.

Ukrainian salaries are far from Polish ones. An occupied area gives you better earnings

The average salary in July was UAH 32,243, or PLN 2,706. This is 45 hryvnias less than in June, when the average salary was 32,783 hryvnias (approximately PLN 2,751). For comparison: the average salary in Poland in July 2026 is PLN 9,509.02 – 3.5 times more.

The highest salaries are earned by people working in Kiev – an average of 49,463 hryvnias (approximately PLN 4,151). In the Kiev Oblast alone, full-time employees received on average UAH 33,268 (approximately PLN 2,792).

Ukrainians from the Chernivtsi Oblast (southwestern Ukraine) and the Kirovohrad Oblast (central Ukraine) earn the least. Monthly salaries are approximately PLN 2,000. PLN (23,354 and 23,532 hryvnia respectively).

In the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, average earnings were 35,367 hryvnias (approximately PLN 2,968). Ukrainian media emphasize that it is not known how this average was calculated.

Only soldiers earn very well. Average salaries are unenviable

In Ukraine, civilian IT specialists earn the highest salaries – the average salary is UAH 78,716 (approximately PLN 6,606). The least paid are teachers, who earn as much as four times less – on average 20,237 hryvnias (approximately PLN 1,698). Ukrainians are also struggling with payment backlogs – arrears of Ukrainian companies towards employees already amount to 3.8 billion hryvnias (approximately PLN 319 million).

Wages in the army are much higher. As the RBC-Ukraina website reported in June, soldiers of assault units may receive salaries exceeding even PLN 11,000. dollars, or approximately 41 thousand zloty.

GDP per capita in Ukraine in 2026 is approximately $6,980 – that’s roughly 80.5 percent. what Ukrainians had in 2021, i.e. before the war with Russia. GDP per capita in Poland in 2026 is expected to be approximately USD 19,361 – 2.7 times more.