More than 45,000 private entrepreneurs registered last year have closed down this year

225,046 private entrepreneurs were registered in Ukraine this year. Compared to last year, the number of new registrations has remained almost unchanged. After a slight slowdown at the beginning of the year, the number of new businesses gradually increased. In January, 21.4 thousand new businesses were registered, while in September the figure reached a record 29.6 thousand.

At the same time, 213,293 private entrepreneurs closed their businesses this year — 11% more than during the same period last year.

It is worth noting that over 45,000 of the entrepreneurs who closed down this year had only registered in 2024. Overall, 15,000 more businesses were opened this year than closed.

The highest number of new entrepreneurs appeared in the capital — 30.5 thousand. Dnipropetrovsk region (22.2 thousand) and Lviv region (17.2 thousand registrations) also ranked high. The top five is completed by Kyiv region (16.7 thousand) and Odesa region (16.4 thousand).

Most closures were in Kyiv (27.5 thousand), Dnipropetrovsk region (19.1 thousand), Kharkiv region (17.7 thousand), and Odesa region (16.1 thousand).

Traditionally, the most popular sector among newly established entrepreneurs is trade — both retail (29% of the total) and wholesale (8%). It is followed by IT, restaurants, and information services.

Entrepreneurs are mostly closing in the same sectors where they were most often opened: trade, IT, and individual services.

Six out of ten new businesses this year were started by women. In Sumy region, this share exceeds 63%. Women are actively entering services, education, clothing production, and healthcare. Men, on the other hand, tend to focus on courier delivery and logistics, construction, and equipment repair.

Foreigners are also actively starting private businesses: 1,648 new sole proprietorships were opened by non-residents this year. Most of them are citizens of Azerbaijan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Armenia.