New Monthly Enterprises Survey №52, August 2026

The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) has released the 52-nd monthly enterprise survey “Ukrainian business in wartime” for August 2026.

The goal of the project is to quickly collect information on the current state of the economy at the enterprise level.

The field stage of the 52-nd wave lasted August 17 – 31, 2026. The enterprise managers compared the work results in August with July 2026, assessed the indicators at the time of the survey (August), and gave forecasts for the next two, three, or six months, depending on the question.

In certain issues (where indicated), the work results were compared with the pre-war period (before February 24, 2022).

This survey uses a panel sample that includes 500+ enterprises located in 21 of 27 regions of Ukraine, including Vinnytsya, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattya, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyy, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi and Chernihiv regions and the Kyiv city.

Main results of the 52-nd monthly enterprise survey:

• Ukrainian businesses remain resilient, but in August, expectations deteriorated across all time horizons, the recovery slowed, and expectations of price increases intensified. At the same time, labor shortages and security risks continue to constrain business growth.
• In August 2026, long-term uncertainty did not change significantly. At the same time, long-term business expectations deteriorated.
• Medium-term uncertainty did not change significantly regarding business activity at enterprises and decreased regarding the overall economic environment. At the same time, expectations for the six-month horizon deteriorated.
• Year-on-year recovery slowed, interrupting the two-month trend of gradual improvement. Business performance indicators (compared with the previous month) also deteriorated after two months of growth.
• Short-term expectations also deteriorated, although only slightly.
• A significant increase in price is expected over the next three – four months, while the share of respondents citing rising prices as an obstacle to business development decreased, although its position in the ranking of obstacles remained unchanged.
• No significant changes in the number of workers or the number of workers on forced leave are expected over the next three – four months.
• At the same time, difficulties in finding both skilled and unskilled workers have been gradually increasing.
• The leading obstacles to business operations remain labor shortages, rising prices, and work hazards, although their shares have changed.
• Respondents identify the end of the war, opportunities to reserve workers from mobilization, and tax reductions as the most important developments that would improve the business situation.