Main points
- In 2025, women headed 34% of all newly created businesses in Ukraine.
- Women most often become directors in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the highest percentage of female managers of new companies is in Mykolaiv (42%).
A third of new companies in Ukraine are headed by women / Photo by Pexels
By 2025, a third of newly created businesses will be headed by women. The most active registrations for female business managers are in Kyiv and the Dnipropetrovsk region.
How many companies were led by women in 2026?
The results of the Opendatabot study show which regions are most governed by women.
During 2025, women led 12,757 new businesses. This is 34% of all newly created enterprises.
Most often, women directors become directors in Kyiv, where 12,290 businesses are registered with them. The following (lower) ranks are occupied by:
- Lviv region – 3,154 companies;
- Dnipropetrovsk region – 2,989 companies;
- Kyiv region – 2,399 companies;
- Odessa region – 2,391 companies.
In terms of female leaders of new companies, the Mykolaiv region is in first place, where 42% of newly created businesses are headed by women. The leaders also include:
- Chernihiv region – 38%;
- Zaporizhia region – 37%;
- Kirovohrad region – 37%;
- Transcarpathian region – 36%.
And the lowest indicators are in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, and Rivne regions (30–33%).
Note! The number of new companies led by women has increased significantly over the year in Ivano-Frankivsk (+27%), Mykolaiv (+24%), and Volyn (+20%).
Share of female managers in new companies in Ukraine in 2025 / Infographics Opendatabot
What areas are headed by women?
Women are most often appointed as directors in wholesale trade. This includes 5,429 new businesses, or 15.8% of all enterprises. Women also head:
- public organizations;
- real estate sector;
- IT;
- construction of buildings.
However, there are industries where there are a minimum of women. For example, security companies (7% are headed). In particular, a low proportion of women are directors in financial services, insurance, metallurgy, telecommunications, and construction of engineering structures.
In total, among the nearly 1.5 million companies currently registered in Ukraine, women head 32%, or 455,298 enterprises.
How many sole proprietorships were opened by women in 2025?
The website Diya.Business states that in 10 months of 2025, Ukrainian women opened more than 153 thousand new individual entrepreneurs. Of the total number, this is 61%.
The largest number of businesses were registered by women in Kyiv (20,268 registrations) and in the Dnipropetrovsk region (15,129 registrations).
However, the highest share among new female entrepreneurs is in Sumy, Poltava, and Odessa regions – 63% each.
What do business owners need to know in 2026?
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First of all, you need to monitor your documents. For example, in order to avoid a fine, individual entrepreneurs must have a single tax payer certificate. The document is issued once a quarter to confirm the simplified system.
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In particular, you need to check letters about debts. Sometimes businesses receive “letters of happiness” about tax debts, but not all of them are relevant. It is worth checking the information in your own electronic taxpayer account.