Retail is growing, but the number of profitable businesses is falling: in Ukraine, their share has fallen to 61 per cent

The Ukrainian retail sector is seeing growth in turnover and overall profit, but behind this picture lies a less encouraging trend: fewer and fewer companies are remaining profitable. According to OpenDataBot, amongst retailers that reported figures for both periods under comparison, the proportion of those making a profit over the year fell from 65 per cent to 61 per cent.

At the same time, this group’s aggregate revenue rose by 18 per cent — to 817.14 billion UAH — whilst total profit increased by 17 per cent, to 17.44 billion UAH. In other words, the market as a whole is growing, but the results are being distributed less and less evenly amongst companies.

Details

As of mid-August 2026, there were 41,235 companies operating in the retail sector in Ukraine. Their number has been rising for the fifth year running. Since the start of the year, 796 more companies have opened than have ceased trading — almost the same number as during the comparable period before the full-scale war, when the net increase stood at 804 companies.

A total of 969 new companies were registered this year — 32 per cent more than in the same period of 2025. Meanwhile, the number of closures remained virtually unchanged.

To compare financial results, OpenDataBot analysed 2,073 companies that submitted financial statements for both the first half of 2025 and the first six months of 2026. Their combined revenue increased from 692.29 billion to 817.14 billion UAH. 1,169 companies recorded growth, whilst 702 saw their revenue decline.

The market leader in terms of revenue is ATB-Market: 135.99 billion UAH for the half-year, compared with 117.15 billion a year earlier. In second place is Silpo-Food with 59.55 billion hryvnias, and in third place is ‘Vygodna Pokupka’, which operates the ‘Aurora’ chain, with 28.26 billion hryvnias. The top five also included Fora – 26.83 billion UAH – and Komfi Trade – 20.16 billion UAH.

In absolute terms, ATB saw the largest increase: up by 18.84 billion UAH over the year. Silpo increased its revenue by 9.16 billion UAH, Aurora by 6.52 billion, and Fora by 6.1 billion UAH. Aurora’s growth stood at around 30 per cent, whilst Fora’s was 29 per cent.

The total profit of the comparable group also rose — from 14.91 billion to 17.44 billion UAH. However, the number of profitable companies fell: in the first half of 2025 there were 1,354, whilst in 2026 there were 1,272. Consequently, their share decreased from 65 per cent to 61 per cent.

There is an important caveat: the analysis only included companies that reported figures for both periods, so these 2,073 businesses cannot automatically be taken to represent the entire retail sector in Ukraine. Furthermore, the data covers the first two quarters – prior to the subsequent massive strikes against the distribution networks and warehouses of Ukrainian companies. The impact of these strikes is likely to be reflected in the next set of financial reports.

Why this matters

Revenue growth in itself does not mean that business has become easier. Prices, turnover and the scale of the largest chains may be growing alongside pressure on margins, as well as costs relating to logistics, staff, electricity and infrastructure restoration.

Therefore, the decline in the proportion of profitable companies is not a technical trifle, but an important signal about the structure of the market. Large chains are able to increase their turnover and overall financial performance, whilst some of the weaker players remain unprofitable or see their performance deteriorate.

At the same time, the steady growth in the number of companies indicates that the retail sector continues to attract new businesses. Net growth has almost returned to pre-war levels for the comparable period. The extent to which this trend will persist following further blows to the logistics infrastructure will become clearer from future reports.

Source

OpenDataBot, 31 August 2026: “61% of retailers in Ukraine that submitted financial statements reported a profit for the first half of the year .”

The calculations are based on data from the Unified State Register and companies’ financial statements. To compare revenue and profit, OpenDataBot analysed 2,073 companies that submitted financial statements for the first halves of 2025 and 2026.