Business expectations of Ukrainian industrial enterprises improve somewhat in Jan – statistics

The business confidence indicator in Ukraine’s industry rose by 2 percentage points in January compared with December 2025 to minus 8.6%, while in manufacturing it increased by 2.3 percentage points to minus 9.3%, the State Statistics Service said.

The business climate indicator in industry edged up by 0.2 percentage points from December 2025 to plus 0.5%, while in manufacturing it rose by 0.1 percentage points to 0.4%.

In particular, in January the assessment of the current volume of production orders (demand) in industry and manufacturing deteriorated slightly to minus 35.2% from minus 34.9% in December and to minus 37.6% from minus 35.5%, respectively.

At the same time, expectations for production volumes over the next three months (January–March 2026) improved: in industry they stood at 1% compared with minus 6% in December, while in manufacturing they were at 0% compared with minus 9%.

According to the State Statistics Service, the assessment of current finished goods inventories in industry improved last month to minus 8.3% from minus 9.4% in December, while in manufacturing it improved to minus 9.8% from minus 10.1%.

The assessment of production volumes over the previous three months in industry also improved to minus 1.2% from minus 5.1% in December 2025, while in manufacturing it rose to 0.5% from minus 5%.

At the same time, the assessment of current export demand in industry and manufacturing deteriorated slightly to minus 26.9% and minus 33%, respectively, from minus 25% and minus 31.2% in December.

According to the statistics agency, enterprises remained supplied with orders for an average of four months, as in previous months.

Capacity utilization increased by 0.7 percentage points, averaging 66.4%.

The survey also showed faster growth in factory-gate prices for industrial products and a decline in the number of employees at industrial enterprises over the next three months.

The biggest factors constraining industrial production remain insufficient demand, labor shortages and other factors.