Page 22 - UKRRptDec21

Within the industrial sector, the highest growth of nominal wages was in pharmaceuticals (20.6% y/y), wood processing (17.4% y/y), rubber and plastics production (15.3% y/y).
Analysts at Concorde Capital attribute the slower growth rate of real wages in October to the increasing comparative base of the previous year as well as high consumer inflation. They also suppose that a 7.0% hryvnia appreciation in 10M21 is also a factor for slower wage growth as Ukrainian employers often use dollar equivalent of wages as a benchmark. "We expect real wages will rise 8-9% y/y in 2021," they said.
Ukraine’s average hryvnia salary in October was 15.4% higher than one year ago. The salary, UAH 14,045, is currently worth $516. For comparison, annual inflation in October was 10.9%. IT workers earned the best salaries, according to the State Statistics Service. IT worker salaries increased 26% yoy, to UAH 25,196, or $926. This salary was more than double the pay of construction workers, almost double the pay of farm workers and almost double the national average.
Further hiking labor costs, Ukraine’s aging workforce will shrink by 30% by 2050, predicts a new UN Policy Paper on Population Dynamics. The 4-page paper focused on Ukraine, saying: “Ukraine's population is shrinking at one of the fastest growing rates in the world and is likely to decline to 35 million by 2050.” The paper calls for more spending on health care, child care, and campaigns to reduce destructive behavior. The report says: “The prevalence of high-risk behavior and noncommunicable diseases are among the main causes of one of the highest death rates in Europe, especially among men.”
22 UKRAINE Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com