Ukrstat released the official statistics on the average consumer prices of goods and services in Ukraine. Find out how much Ukrainians are paying for essential groceries, dental, and insurance.
Prices in Ukraine
People often ask about the cost of goods and services in Ukraine. The officials statistics and data offer insights into how much prices vary by region and what are the averages by months. The detailed stats were published by Ukrstat on 14 January 2019.
A short exert from the data is published below for your perusal.
Cost of goods and services in Ukraine
When we are talking about Ukrainians earning on average mere USD 320 per month, foreigners often wonder how locals manage to survive on this money.
It may start making sense when you review the list of costs of essential products, goods, and services in December 2018 and 2017. Prices are in Ukrainian hryvnia, which at the moment is on the level of about 28 hryvnia for 1 US Dollar. The exchange rate between the Ukrainian hryvnia and US dollar remained relatively stable within the last few years after the giant inflation in 2014-2015, seeing the value of the dollar soaring from 8 to 27 hryvnia.
Here is how much Ukrainians pay for some things:
- Loaf of bread: 12-22 hryvnia (USD 0.43-0.79)
- Wheat flour: 11 ($0.40) per 1 kg (2.2 pounds)
- Beef: 128 ($4.50) per 1 kg (2.2 pounds)
- Pork: 115 ($4.11)
- Whole chicken: 58 ($2.07)
- Chicken fillet: 105 ($3.75)
- Sausages: 93 ($3.30)
- Frozen fish: 73 ($2.60)
- Milk: 24 ($0.86) per 1 litre
- Eggs: 25 ($0.90) for 10 eggs
- Butter: 39 ($1.40) for 200 g
- Sunflower oil: 35 ($1.25) for 1 litre
- Apples: 9 ($0.33) per 1 kg
- Cabbage: 9 (0.32) per 1 kg
- Onions: 17 ($0.60) per 1 kg
- Carrots: 12 ($0.43) per 1 kg
- Potato: 8 ($0.29) per 1 kg
- Sugar: 14 ($0.50) per 1 kg
- Vodka: 91 ($3.25) per 0.5 litre
- Vine: 63 ($2.25) per 0.75 litre
- Beer: 15 ($0.54) per 0.5 litre
- Cigarettes: 25-40 ($0.90-1.43) per pack
- Rent for 1-room apartment: 3353 ($120) per month
- Antibiotics (Ukraine-made): 16 ($0.57) per pack of 10 tablets
- Antibiotics (imported brands): 105 ($3.75) per pack of 10 tablets
- Headache tablets, Ukraine-made and imported: 8-14 ($0.30-0.50) per pack of 10 tablets
- Visit to a dentist: 419 ($15)
- Fuel (Petrol A-92, A-95, diesel): 29-30 ($1.04-1.07) per 1 litre
- Public transport: 4 ($0.16) per ride
- Pre-school education (Kindergarten), per day per child: 18 ($0.64)
- Vehicle insurance: 918 ($33) per year
Consumer prices: Cheap and expensive
Some prices may seem ridiculously cheap to you, which is usually connected with the fact that wages in Ukraine are very low. Because people are paid very little, services that cost much more in the countries of the developed world, are priced inexpensively, as the major component is the cost of labour.
Costs of other things such as petrol and diesel, are comparable with the monetary values you pay for the same type of fuel in your country.
However, on average, even the most expensive things in the listing such as the cost of rent of an apartment or the annual cost of vehicle insurance, are priced affordable for someone earning an average wage.
- For instance, the price of renting a 1-room apartment (it includes a separate kitchen, bathroom, and an entry fall, most often a balcony) is only USD 120 per month, while the average wage in the country is $320.
- Paying $15 to see a dentist would be a bargain in the USA or Australia, where you are likely to shed hundreds for the same service.
- Getting your car insured for only $33 a year is unheard of in today’s western countries.
But those are the values that locals are able to pay. Bear in mind that the majority of Ukrainians do not own cars and use public transport, which is only $0.16 per ride.
Cost of living varies by city; in large Ukrainian cities like Kyiv (Kiev), Odesa (Odessa) and Lviv (Lvov) prices are higher than in smaller regional towns.
Statistics on prices in Ukraine in 2017, 2018 by Ukrstat.
What do you think about the prices of products and services in the largest country of the European continent? Comment below!
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- Population of Ukraine 1990-2018: Official statistics by Ukrstat. Divorce rate, male to female ratio
- People start moving to Ukraine, migration statistics show
- Successful relationships with Ukrainian women
It’s not correct to compare numbers. You have to compare what is the monthly expense for food comparing to the local average salary. You can also compare to for example Switzerland where bread costs 3-4 CHF, but for Swiss it’s not expensive because their salaries are high. for Ukraine this comparison is not positive.