In the first quarter of 2026, 11,297 more individual entrepreneurs were registered in Ukraine than ceased operations. From January to March, 63,920 entrepreneurs registered their own business, while 52,623 ceased operations. Such data is contained in the Unified State Register.
This is an indicative result for small businesses, because after difficult years, when the number of closures often outweighed openings, the first months of 2026 recorded not a point revival, but a distinct positive balance.
It is worth noting that a comparison with previous years only reinforces this impression. If in 2024, 74,347 individual entrepreneurs opened in the first quarter, and 76,565 closed, then 2025 showed an even sharper imbalance: 62,776 openings versus 106,199 closures. Against this background, 2026 looks restrained, but much healthier: there are not a record number of new businesses, but there are significantly fewer closures. This is what gave the increase, which is more important than the gross number of registrations.
Changes in economic behavior are most clearly visible by type of activity. The largest increase was recorded in retail trade outside stores — that is, online, through social networks, marketplaces and messengers. 2,527 entrepreneurs were added here during the quarter. This figure indicates not only the popularity of digital sales, but also a change in the logic of small business itself: more and more people are choosing a format in which they can start faster, cheaper and without the costs of a physical point.
In addition, the education sector has grown significantly, where the increase was 1,899 individual entrepreneurs. Another 1,230 entrepreneurs were added in consulting, 1,033 in other information services, 862 in businesses related to real estate rental. All this together forms a fairly clear picture: small business in Ukraine is increasingly shifting towards services, knowledge, support, digital communication and flexible employment models. Where large start-up investments are not required and you can work independently, entrepreneurship is growing fastest.
At the same time, another part of the market, on the contrary, is losing ground. The largest reduction occurred in the retail trade sector in markets and from stalls — minus 2,531 entrepreneurs. Another 1,062 individual entrepreneurs disappeared in non-specialized stores. Less noticeable, but still significant, decreases were recorded in household goods repair, freight transportation, and television broadcasting. These figures indicate that traditional retail formats and some of the usual services can no longer compete with cheaper, more mobile, and less costly work models.
The largest increase in entrepreneurs was recorded in Kyiv — plus 1,826 individual entrepreneurs. This is followed by Lviv Oblast with an increase of 1,651, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast — 1,450, Kyiv Oblast — 1,159, and Odessa Oblast — 775. These regions today concentrate the largest part of economic activity, consumer demand, and internal population mobility. Where there is a market, a client, and a relatively predictable environment, new businesses emerge faster.
Instead, the largest reduction is observed in the front-line and partially occupied regions. In the Donetsk region, the number of individual entrepreneurs decreased by 479, in the Kherson region – by 224, in the Sumy region – by 204, in the Zaporizhia region – by 97, in the Luhansk region – by 56. In these cases, the statistics already reflect not only economic trends, but also the direct impact of the security situation. Where the daily risk is higher than the possibility of planning, entrepreneurship inevitably shrinks.
In general, the first quarter of 2026 showed not just an increase in individual entrepreneurs, but a structural change in small business itself. Areas related to online sales, education, consulting, information services and rental are doing better. Instead, markets, stalls, part of offline trade and some traditional services are gradually losing ground. So the number 11,297 is important as an indicator of what Ukrainian entrepreneurship is becoming: more digital, service-oriented, and much more sensitive to the geography of security.
