In 2025, Ukrainians concluded more than 2.17 million contracts with microfinance organizations. In monetary terms, this is almost 13 billion hryvnias, raised in the form of microloans. About this informs The opendata.
Growth rates remain consistently high — plus 8% to the number of loans issued compared to the first quarter of last year. However, for the first time in two years, a decrease in the average amount of the loan was recorded — it amounted to 5,858 hryvnias, which is 2% less than in 2024.
If the size of the average check increased every quarter in 2023 and 2024, the current decline may indicate that borrowers are more cautious — or that loans are increasingly being taken out to cover basic needs rather than big expenses.
On average, Ukrainians draw up more than 724,000 contracts with MFIs every month. This is more than a year ago, when the average monthly figure was 693 thousand. Such stability confirms that microfinance services remain one of the main tools for short-term survival for a large part of the population — despite high interest rates and reputational risks.
As of April 1, 2025, the total amount owed by Ukrainians to microfinance institutions reached 24.28 billion hryvnias. This is twice as much as at the start of a full-scale invasion in April 2022. Only in the first three months of 2025, the debt burden increased by 4.3 billion, which is equivalent to an increase of 22%.
The updated NBU data on the dynamics of 2024 are particularly revealing. If earlier it was believed that at the end of the year the amount of debt decreased by 2.7 billion hryvnias, then the updated statistics speak of an increase — plus 1.4 billion. Thus, for the entire year 2024, the debt of the population to MFIs actually doubled, increasing by 10.7 billion hryvnias.
The demand for short microloans has grown significantly. If in 2024, loans for a term of up to 31 days accounted for only 14.5% of all contracts, then in 2025 – already 24%. This may indicate an increase in financial instability among borrowers: people are looking for small “payday” amounts that can be paid back as soon as possible.
At the same time, medium-term loans — from 32 to 92 days — practically disappeared from the market. Their share decreased more than five times — from 16.5% to only 3%. This may be related both to a change in the strategy of MFIs themselves, and to a change in the profile of borrowers who need either very short or already more stable, longer loans.
The most common type of loans remains unchanged — 63% of contracts are concluded for a period of 93 days to one year. This is the standard format for the market, and its share remains stable. However, the segment of long-term microloans is also growing noticeably. The number of contracts with a term of 1 to 2 years has increased 15 times, and their share is now 3.6%. This is a dangerous trend: in the field of microfinance, long loans carry particularly high risks for the consumer, because the loan can quickly turn into a debt trap due to significant charges.
The official term structure of microloans looks like this:
– up to 31 days — 519,013 contracts (23.9%)
– from 32 to 92 days — 66,024 (3.0%)
– from 93 days to 1 year — 1,359,693 (62.6%)
– from 1 to 2 years — 78,931 (3.6%)
– from 2 to 3 years old — 203 (0.0%)
– more than 3 years — 149,327 (6.9%)
