Page 54 - UKRRptSept23

8.1.2 Loans
The popularity of microcredits is growing in Ukraine. As well, there is a decrease in the average loan amount, reported Opendatabot. In the year's first half, 3.8 million microloans were issued for a total of UAH 18.4B. For comparison, in 2022, Ukrainians borrowed UAH 23.9B from microfinance organizations (MFI). After the decline of the MFI industry in the first half of 2022, on average, Ukrainians have been taking 650,000 microloans per month this year. This is almost 1.5 times more than in 2022 but still just over half of the corresponding period in 2021. At that time, an average of 1.17 million microloans were issued monthly. However, the number of loans being issued increases every quarter. For the second quarter of 2023, the increase was 7%. Compared to the first quarter, when growth reached 18%, the pace decreased somewhat. The average loan amount slightly decreased in the second quarter, by 7%, from UAH 4,931 to UAH 4,564. For comparison, last year, in the second quarter, the average amount was UAH 3,810, and in the second quarter of 2021, UAH 4,468.
54 UKRAINE Country Report September 2023 www.intellinews.com