Language

Official language
Ukrainian 60%

T-index
0.24%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Other languages
Russian 40%, Yiddish, Rusyn, Romanian, Belarusian, Crimean Tatar, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Polish, Armenian

English
Moderate proficiency (EF) – 40th out of 112 countries/regions in the world- 30/35 position in Europe.

Demography

Capital: Kyiv
Currency: Ukrainian hryvnia
Population: 43,8 million 
Population density: 76 /km2

Economy

GDP: 200.09 billion USD (2021)
GDP per capita: 4,835.6USD ‎(2021) ‎
Exports: $52.7 billion (2021)

Statistics

Internet users: 71.8% penetration, 31.10 million
Unemployment rate: 9.5% (2020)
Urbanisation: 69.35% (2018)
Literacy: 97% (2018)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numerals and comma as decimal separator

Date format: dd-mm-yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00380

Media

Media language
Ukrainian

Information channels
Television is the most powerful sector of the media industry and the main news source for most Russians, although its dominance is being eroded by the internet. The top national TV networks are either state-run or owned by companies with close links to the Kremlin. The government controls Channel One and Rossiya 1 – the leading channels – while state-run energy giant Gazprom owns NTV. The thriving pay-TV market is led by the satellite platform Tricolor. A project to bring digital TV to every Russian home is close to completion, although some analogue transmissions continue. RT, launched in 2005 as the state-funded English-language TV station Russia Today, is the flagship of Russia’s international media operations. It has launched TV networks in Arabic, Spanish and French. Since the Ukraine crisis, Russian state media have intensified the pro-Kremlin and nationalistic tone of their broadcasts, broadcasting a regular diet of adulation for Mr Putin, nationalistic pathos, fierce rejection of Western influence and attacks on the Kremlin’s enemies. Some observers have accused pro-Kremlin TV of spreading disinformation and conducting an information war both at home and abroad. There are more than 3,000 licensed radio stations. The three main state networks Radio Rossii, Mayak and Vesti FM compete with music-based commercial stations. Of the 18,000 registered newspapers, 20 can be described as national titles. The most popular papers are pro-Kremlin and several influential dailies are owned by companies with close links to the Kremlin.

Television

UA:First – public
Inter TV – national, commercial
1+1 – national, commercial
STB – commercial
Novy Kanal – commercial
ICTV – commercial
Ukrayina – commercial
5 Kanal – commercial, news
TV 112 – commercial, news
Hromadske TV – web-based

Radio

Ukrainian Radio – operated by state-owned National Radio Company of Ukraine
Russkoye Radio – commercial
NRJ – commercial
Hit FM – commercial
Nashe Radio – commercial
Radio NV – commercial, news and talk

The press

Fakty i Kommentarii – mass-circulation tabloid daily, in Russian
Vesti – mass-circulation tabloid daily, in Russian
Segodnya – mass-circulation daily, in Russian
KP v Ukraine – Ukrainian franchise of Russian tabloid
Argumenty i Fakty v Ukraine – Ukrainian version of Russian weekly
Zerkalo Nedeli – political weekly
Vecherniye Vesti – weekly
Holos Ukrayiny – parliamentary daily
Kyiv Post – English-language weekly

News agency

Ukrinform – state-run, English-language pages
UNIAN – private, English-language pages
Interfax-Ukraine – private, English-language pages
Ukrayinska Pravda – news site
TSN – multimedia news site

Social statistics

Life expectancy
71.78 yrs (2017)

Average age of the population
41.2 yrs (2020)

Urbanisation
69.35% (2018)

Religion
During Soviet times, citizens were strongly discouraged from celebrating religious holidays or attending services. As a result, several generations grew up without religious values or traditions. Since independence, there has been a religious revival in Ukraine. Most Ukrainians are Eastern Orthodox, which comprises Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Orthodox and Autocephalous persuasions. There are more Roman Catholics and Greek-Catholics in Western Ukraine; the latter follow the Orthodox tradition of religious services and allow for married clergy. There are a number of Muslims (i.e. Crimean Tatars) as well as a strong presence of Judaism in some parts of the country.

Ethnicity
There are two main ethnic groups in Ukraine: Ukrainians (about 78% of the total population) and Russians (17%). Other ethnic groups include Crimean Tatars, Moldovians, Jews, Polish, Romanians, Hungarians and other Baltic and eastern Europeans.

Healthcare expenditure
7.1% of GDP (2016)

Gender
Women are less visible in senior positions in the political and economic spheres, in keeping with the dominant belief that they should be less prominent. The dress code for women tends to place a heavy emphasis on looking feminine. The issue of sexual harassment, as it is understood in the West, is not understood or accepted in Ukraine. Some gestures that would be considered inappropriate between work colleagues tend to be commonplace in Ukraine, even if unwelcome by women.

Several recent donor-funded programs have introduced projects promoting equal rights for men and women. The projects are met with scepticism by both men and women as “gender equality” is rather misunderstood by both.

Class
During the Soviet era, everyone was considered equal, although “some were more equal than others” – meaning that the Communist Party elite enjoyed unspoken rights and privileges unknown to the majority of the population. According to Soviet ideology, there were only two classes: peasants/workers and the so-called “intelligentsia” (i.e. professionals). As a consequence, notions of equality remain strong in Ukrainian society. In real life, however, class does engender nepotism.

Typically, Ukrainians acknowledge two classes their country today: rich and poor. The middle class is still not very significant in numbers.