Short business life: an average sole proprietor in Ukraine lives for 2.4 years
7 January 16:15
More than 250,000 businesses closed in Ukraine in the first 11 months of 2025, according to the Unified State Register. Every eighth entrepreneur who closed last year worked in Kyiv. On average, sole proprietors live for 2.4 years. Entrepreneurs engaged in warehousing activities are the longest-lived, while couriers are the least long-lived.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Opendatabot.
250,209 fops have closed since the beginning of 2025 in Ukraine. The peak of closures occurred in January – then, after a month and a half break in the work of the registers, 59,723 entrepreneurs immediately documented the closure.
the average lifespan of a sole proprietorship in Ukraine is 2 years and 4 months.
Every eighth entrepreneur who closed in 2025 worked in Kyiv: 32,469 fops. Dnipropetrovs’k region is the second most closing region: 22,645 entrepreneurs ceased their activities last year. Small businesses in Kharkiv (20,481), Odesa (18,714), and Lviv (16,521) regions closed by a small margin.
The most vulnerable last year were retailers, accounting for a third of closures (77,705). On average, such businesses have been in existence for less than 3 years. Another 16,909 sole proprietorships in the wholesale trade sector ceased operations in 2025 – such entrepreneurs barely make it through the year. Overall, the trade niche alone accounts for almost half of the closures.
By a wide margin , IT specialists were the second most frequent closures – 28,668, or every ninth entrepreneur who closed last year. By the way, IT specialists are also among the longest-lived entrepreneurs – 3 years and 11 months.
How long does an average entrepreneur live ?
The longest-lived entrepreneurs in Ukraine are those engaged in warehousing – such entrepreneurs have worked for more than 6 years.
real estate entrepreneurs have been working for 5 years and 11 months. Businesses in the field of equipment repair, in particular, household appliances, round out the top three: 5 years and 9 months.
But courier firms are the least resilient – only 6 months, on average, have been worked by entrepreneurs who closed in this area last year. FOPs in the field of administrative and auxiliary office activities survive for 9 months. Entrepreneurs in the aforementioned wholesale trade and educators have been operating for just over a year.
