The amount an average Ukrainian spends monthly is less around USD 200. This is the amount an average citizen of Ukraine spends on all the living expenses. The conclusion is based on data provided by the official statistics.

An average Ukrainian spends US $200 on all living expenses

In the first quarter of 2019 Ukrainians spent 655 billion hryvnia, which is about USD 25 billion, Finance.ua reported. In the last 3 months of 2018 citizens of Ukraine spend 42 billion hryvnia more, but it was the traditional holiday season, of course.

If we divide the spending by the number of people living in Ukraine (roughly 42 million), the amount is rather small: just under USD 600. Instead of USD 596 of quarterly spending, it would give us USD 634, not a huge difference. We should also remember that the end of the year is the time of annual bonuses.

In any case, US $200 per month, plus minus 20 bucks, seems to be the amount that an average citizens of the country has to survive on, paying for absolutely everything: Groceries, accommodation (most people own their flats or houses or reside with family members, renting is rather unaffordable), entertainment, travel and other fun activities.

Of course, we are talking average numbers, but this is precisely the point. Most people in Ukraine survive on such incomes year after year. They simply don’t earn more than that.

Income and spending

Ukrainians also travel abroad a lot for business and vacations. In 2017, 26.5 million Ukrainians travelled abroad, according to UNIAN. Let’s not forget this includes nearby countries such as Russia, Belarus, or Poland.

In 2018 citizens of Ukraine spent over USD 8 billion in foreign countries, we reported earlier. It’s quite sizable expenses per person (over $300 annually), but in a quarter it’s only $75 or $25 monthly.

In other words, even if we add the total spending abroad by 2/3 of Ukrainians, their spending per month is still only $225 (while 1/3 of the population that didn’t travel remains on $200).

The picture of expenditure per person isn’t much different, whichever way you look at it.

Average wages in Ukraine officially are just over 10,000 hryvnia (US $380) monthly, but these are inflated, as we have shown before, due to the way the statistical data is collected: Only enterprises with 10+ employees are included in the reports, so a large part of small businesses paying minimum wages are not in the statistics.

The minimum monthly wage in Ukraine from 1 January 2019 is 4,173 hryvnia ($160). A lot of people are earning only that much: shop assistants and other retail workers, even nurses and clerks.

Still, we were talking about the average expenditure per person, not an average income. Kids have no income and pensioners in Ukraine are only getting around 3033 hryvnia ($115) per month. And yes, they have to survive on this amount, and they do.

If we add the total spending abroad by 2/3 of Ukrainians, their spending per month is still only $225 (while 1/3 of the population that didn’t travel remains on $200).

Ukrainian girls’ tales

So, if any Ukrainian girl tells you that $200 is a pitiful amount or tries to extort from you expensive gifts, you know it’s total fiction and you don’t need to believe it, because you know the official statistics.

Yes, people may earn some “cash in envelopes”, which is some part or full wage that is paid “under the table” and not listed as an income officially by the person, but this person still spends this money. This means, it is accounted for in the statistics of spending.

Yes, people in Kyiv earn higher wages, about double the size of the rest of the population, so, if your online Ukrainian girlfriend is from Kyiv, then she needs about $400 monthly to live on an average level. But she works a whole week for about $100, 8 hours a day. $100 will be an highly valuable amount of money for her.

Keep it in perspective when discussing visits and travel expenses. You can appreciate that a woman probably cannot afford to pay for the tickets, but she would be happy to accept your offer to cover your expenses to a personal meeting — unless, of course, you prefer to visit her, in which case there is no problem with payment of expenses, it’s just you need to pay your own way to get there and stay there.

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