305 thousand specialists, 800 thousand jobs in related sectors, $7.85 billion in revenue — this is what Ukraine's IT sector looks like according to the "Code of Economics" study prepared by the IT Ukraine Association together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation. However, the first figure in the headline requires clarification.
Two numbers — one industry
The Ministry of Digital Transformation and IT Ukraine cite the sum of taxes for 2025 — 50.5 billion hrn. DOU, which analyzed the same open data from the State Tax Service, records 58.6 billion hrn — a difference of 8 billion, or approximately 16%. The explanation is technical but fundamental: 50.53 billion hrn is only revenue to the consolidated budget (personal income tax, military levy, corporate income tax, VAT). Separately, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs paid another approximately 8.1 billion hrn in unified social contribution — it goes not to the budget but to pension and social insurance. Together — 58.6 billion hrn. Neither figure is manipulation; they measure different things.
By structure: 32.94 billion hrn was paid by legal entities, 17.59 billion hrn by individual entrepreneurs. The largest quarter was the fourth: over 13 billion hrn to the budget alone. Growth compared to 2024 — +35% in taxes. The reasons are not only sector expansion: the military levy rate increased from 1.5% to 5%, and from October 2024 it was extended to individual entrepreneurs on the simplified system. That is, part of the "record" is fiscal reform, not organic growth.
Multiplier: what stands behind the coefficient of 2.29
The study claims: one IT specialist provides 2.29 jobs in other sectors — hence the figure of 800 thousand indirect jobs among 305 thousand directly employed in the sector. The Lviv IT Cluster uses similar methodology in IT Research Ukraine 2025 — they obtained 2.7 jobs under favorable business environment conditions, and estimated total employment at 644–645 thousand jobs. The difference between 644 thousand and 800 thousand is explained precisely by different multiplier assumptions.
"Today, the Ukrainian IT market is $7.85 billion, over 305 thousand specialists and more than 2 thousand companies operating in both the global and domestic markets."
Maria Shevchuk, Executive Director of IT Ukraine Association
Multipliers are a commonly accepted tool, but their accuracy depends on initial data. The Center for Economic Strategy and Kyiv School of Economics agree that the industry indeed generates significant indirect effects, but specific coefficients require verification based on input-output tables from the State Statistics Service, which are published with a delay.
Real trend: growth after two years of decline
Context for GDP and export figures is important. The IT sector's share of GDP decreased from 4.43% in 2023 to 3.92% in 2024 — and "Code of Economics" records it at 3.2% in 2025. This is not industry collapse: other sectors — defense, construction, energy — were growing faster. IT exports themselves in 2025 reached $6.66 billion, which is 3.3% more than 2024 — the first growth after two consecutive years of decline. However, this indicator remains 1.1% below 2023 and approximately 10% below the record 2022 level.
- Computer services — 41.6% of all Ukrainian service exports (based on 2025 results)
- USA — main sales market: 36% of IT exports, but volumes to American clients are declining; meanwhile, Latvia (+44%), Finland (+50%) are growing
- Social contribution separately: 8.1 billion hrn — these funds go to pensions and sick leave, not included in the budget's 50.5 billion
What the study does not measure
"Code of Economics" records sector strength but overlooks structural risk: the industry remains almost entirely export-oriented. The domestic market is a smaller portion of the $7.85 billion in revenue. This means that any slowdown in global demand for IT outsourcing or increased competition from India, Poland, or AI tools hits Ukraine's foreign exchange earnings directly — without the buffer of domestic consumption. The Lviv IT Cluster study adds: during the full-scale war, over half of Ukrainian companies faced contract terminations, a quarter lost over 40% of income.
If 2026 confirms the baseline forecast — "cautiously neutral," without recovery to pre-war volumes — will IT remain the main argument in post-war investment negotiations for Ukraine, or should the country already be betting on diversifying its export base?
