More than 15% of Ukrainians noticed drug prices rising by over 50% in 2 years – survey
More than 15% of Ukrainians reported that drug prices increased by more than 50% during 2024–2025, while 52% observed price growth of 20%–50%.
According to Oleksandr Pozniy, Director of research company Active Group, these findings come from a survey conducted by Active Group and the Experts Club analytical center in early February and presented at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Friday.
Pozniy noted that one-third of respondents said drug prices have hardly changed, while 2.6% said they have even decreased.
"Overall, it can be stated that the cost of medicines has increased quite significantly, and this is noted by an almost absolute majority [of respondents]," he said, explaining that medicines account for approximately 10%–20% of a household budget, making such price increases highly noticeable.
Pozniy added that when purchasing medicines, 25% of Ukrainians pay attention to price, while 24.5% focus on effectiveness.
"In other words, slightly more than half pay attention to the combination of price and effectiveness of the selected medicines. Therefore, people try to find an optimal balance where there is the greatest effect and the least financial burden in terms of treatment," he said.
In addition, Pozniy reported that 28.4% of respondents prefer Ukrainian-made medicines, 33.4% prefer imported drugs, and for 38% of respondents the country of origin does not matter.
According to the survey results, 31.4% consider the use of electronic prescriptions very convenient, 44% consider it rather convenient, 18.7% rather inconvenient, and only 5.9% consider it very inconvenient.
For his part, Maksym Urakin, founder of the Experts Club information and analytical center, noted that the price factor for medicines is key for Ukrainian citizens.
"Against this background, it is especially important how state reimbursement mechanisms and compensation for the cost of medicines function. There is a state reimbursement program, but only 13% of Ukrainians use it. Therefore, reimbursement needs to be promoted among citizens," he said.
The study was conducted via the SunFlowerSociology online panel using a representative sample on February 11–12, 2026. The survey included 1,000 respondents representing all regions of Ukraine, except for temporarily occupied territories.