Food availability in Ukraine continues to decline: from September 2024 to February 2025, the Food Availability Index (FAI) decreased to 89% of the pre-war level, IZ writes. Interfax-Ukraine reports this with reference to a report by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE).
The study notes that before the full-scale invasion, the average Ukrainian could afford 9.5 food baskets. Just five months after the start of hostilities, this figure had fallen by 19% due to rising prices and a third of incomes falling. A partial improvement in the GDP was recorded in 2023–2024 due to cheaper vegetables during the harvest and higher wages due to a labor shortage.
However, starting in the fall of 2024, the situation worsened again. Inflation and seasonal price increases caused another drop in the GDP — to 8.5 in February 2025, which is 89% of the level in January 2022. The best situation was recorded in the western regions of the country: Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, and Rivne regions, where the indicator reached 96% of the pre-war level.
The worst indicators were observed in the frontline and shelled regions — Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odessa regions, where the GDP fell to 82–86% of the pre-war level. Residents in these regions experience the greatest shortage of food availability.
The KSE report also draws attention to particularly vulnerable groups. For example, in February 2025, the IDP for those receiving benefits as internally displaced persons (IDPs) fell to 62% of the level in January 2022. For pensioners, this figure was 75%.
” These indicators are significantly lower than the average for the country ,” the Kyiv School of Economics emphasized.
The Food Affordability Index (FAI) assesses the ratio of citizens' income to the cost of a standard food basket.
We remind you that we previously wrote that the Memorandum with the IMF stipulated new increases in utility tariffs.