In Mykolaiv Oblast, there are already more pensioners than working people: worrying figures from the Pension Fund

In Mykolaiv Oblast, the number of pensioners exceeds the number of employed people by 9,278. As of October 2026, the region had 257,309 civilian pensioners. At the same time, the number of insured employees and the number of individual entrepreneurs have also changed in recent years. The Pension Fund links these trends to the full-scale war, migration, and a challenging demographic situation. This was reported by Suspilne Mykolaiv, citing a response to an information request from the Mykolaiv branch of the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

As of October 2026, 257,309 civilian pensioners were registered in Mykolaiv Oblast. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, their number has fallen by approximately 16,000 people. According to the Pension Fund’s reporting data, there were 9,278 more pensioners in the region than employed people. The agency notes that the region’s demographic situation remains challenging and unbalanced. It is affected by the full-scale war, the proximity of some areas to the front line, and population displacement. Some residents of Mykolaiv Oblast have left the country or moved to other regions of Ukraine. This has affected the number of people living and working in the region, as well as pension registration figures.

According to the Pension Fund, the average number of insured people during the reporting period changed as follows:

• 2022 — 169,915 people;
• 2023 — 201,477;
• 2024 — 212,780;
• 2025 — 219,920;
• 2026 — 214,719.

Thus, after several years of growth, the figure fell by 5,201 people in 2026 compared with 2025.

A different trend can be seen among individual entrepreneurs. After a notable decline in 2023, their number gradually increased in subsequent years. The number of individual entrepreneurs by unique code changed as follows:

• 2022 — 35,051 entrepreneurs;
• 2023 — 29,057;
• 2024 — 29,487;
• 2025 — 29,850;
• 2026 — 33,312.

Thus, compared with 2023, the number of individual entrepreneurs increased by 4,255 in 2026.

The Pension Fund attributes this trend to several factors, including losing a previous job, internal migration, people’s desire for financial independence, a simplified business registration process, and the tax system. The agency also believes that state grants and programs supporting business development have contributed to the increase in the number of entrepreneurs.

The response to the information request also includes figures for the average number of payers:

• 2022 — 13,434;
• 2023 — 13,636;
• 2024 — 14,924;
• 2025 — 14,168;
• 2026 — 11,010.

However, the figure for 2026 is incomplete: the document notes that it does not yet include individual entrepreneurs’ reports for the third quarter of the year. Therefore, comparing it with previous years’ figures without taking this caveat into account would be inaccurate.

Overall, Pension Fund statistics reveal several trends in Mykolaiv Oblast: the number of civilian pensioners remains high, there were fewer insured employees in 2026, and the number of individual entrepreneurs has started growing again after declining in 2023. The Pension Fund links demographic and employment changes in the region primarily to the consequences of the war, population migration, and economic circumstances.

We previously reported:

• A quarter of pensioners live on less than UAH 4,000: what residents of Mykolaiv Oblast receive
• Mykolaiv Oblast is hosting around 120,000 internally displaced people, says Kim
• Pension payments halted for thousands of IDPs: who has been left without money
• Average pension in Ukraine rises to UAH 6,436, but only a third of pensioners receive that amount
• Millions of Ukrainians are surviving on UAH 3,000: new pension data published