Ukraine

Ukraine has been an ILO member state since 1954 and was declared independent in 1991. The ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe started working with Ukraine from 1996, marking a new period of enhanced collaboration between the ILO and Ukraine. The ILO Governing Body decision to open an ILO Country Office in Kyiv in 2024 represents a new milestone in ILO support to Ukraine.  

To date, Ukraine has ratified 72 ILO Conventions, of which 61 are in force, including nine fundamental and four priority Conventions. The ratification by Ukraine of the ILO Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170) in 2023 marked a strong adherence to international labour standards by the Ukrainian tripartite constituents and their commitment to modernize the legal framework and institutional setup despite the hardships of the ongoing war.  

Despite a partial and fragile labour market recovery, Ukraine is still suffering from the consequences of the war. The Russian Federation’s military aggression against Ukraine continues to cause major losses to life, incomes, employment and livelihoods.  

 After a sharp GDP decline of 29 percent in the first year of the war and the loss of over 2 million jobs (ILO, 2024), the Ukrainian economy demonstrated first optimistic signs of recovery in 2023 with an annual growth rate of 4.8 per cent (World Bank, 2024). Further economic recovery may however be constrained by the lack of workforce, which has dropped by 10.4 per cent since the beginning of the invasion (ILO, 2024). The country will thus need 8,6 million additional  workers in the coming years to achieve its economic growth targets (ILO, 2023).  

While the number of refugees returning to Ukraine has slightly increased, almost 6 million people remain spread across Europe. 55 per cent of them were working before the war (ILO, 2024). In addition, almost 4 million people have been displaced within Ukraine.  Continue reading 

• Email : budapest@ilo.org
• Phone : +38 067 413 6661

Address
75 Zhylianska Str., PO Box 20
Kyiv
Ukraine
01032

ILO activities in Ukraine are coordinated by the ILO office for Central and Eastern Europe, based in Budapest.