The average pension in Ukraine was UAH 7,287.81 on 1 October 2026, according to the Pension Fund of Ukraine. A year earlier it was UAH 6,436.79, so the average rose by UAH 851, or 13.2%. The number of pensioners fell by about 200,000 over the year, to 10.0 million.
The same week parliament adopted the law on basic social assistance, which from 1 January 2027 merges several means-tested payments to low-income families into one benefit. And the 2027 budget debate has put two very different minimum pensions on the table: UAH 2,878 in the government's draft and UAH 6,500 in a proposal from the head of the finance committee.
The average pension: UAH 7,287.81, and what sits behind it
The Pension Fund's quarterly breakdown shows who receives what. Old-age pensions make up 72.25% of all pensions, disability pensions 15.12%, survivors' pensions 7.10%, long-service pensions 5.00% and social pensions 0.49%.
About 2.8 million pensioners are still working. Their average pension is higher, UAH 8,019.18, because it is calculated on more recent and usually higher wages.
The headline growth needs one adjustment. Consumer prices rose 10.0% in the year to September, the State Statistics Service reported on 12 October, up from 8.1% in August. Measured against that, the average pension grew by roughly 2.9% in real terms. Most of the nominal rise comes from the 1 March indexation of 12.1%, which used 2025 inflation of 8.0%; inflation has since run faster than the formula assumed.
How many pensioners get more than UAH 10,000, and how many less than UAH 5,000
The distribution moved up across the board:
- Over UAH 10,000: 19.02% of pensioners, about 1.9 million people, up from 15.05% a year earlier.
- UAH 5,001–10,000: 36.63%, up from 29.14%. This is now the largest group.
- UAH 4,001–5,000: 17.16%, down from 20.58%.
- UAH 3,001–4,000: 23.79%, down from 31.57%.
- Up to UAH 3,000: 3.40%, about 340,000 people, down from 3.66%.
Taken together, 44.35% of pensioners, roughly 4.4 million people, still receive less than UAH 5,000 a month. A year ago it was 55.81%. The lowest bracket sits close to the floor: the minimum old-age pension for a full record of service is tied to the subsistence minimum for persons unable to work, UAH 2,595 in 2026.
The shift is mostly arithmetic. The brackets are fixed in hryvnias, so a 12.1% indexation pushes pensions that sat just under UAH 4,000, 5,000 or 10,000 into the next group. The typical pensioner is better off than a year ago, but the average pension still replaces only about a quarter of the average wage: 23.4% in July, as the earlier analysis of the 2027 service requirements showed.
The basic social assistance law: what changes from 2027
Bill No. 15094 on basic social assistance was registered by a group of MPs in March, passed first reading with 235 votes on 28 May and was adopted as a whole with 247 votes. The Verkhovna Rada's bill card records the adoption on 12 October and shows the law being prepared for signature on 13 October. The new rules take effect on 1 January 2027; an experimental version has run since 2025.
The formula is simple. The family's entitlement equals a base amount multiplied by the number of family members, minus the family's average monthly income. The base amount is set each year in the state budget law and cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum per person. For 2026 it is UAH 4,500. The first and every following family member count at 100%; amounts for some people with disabilities are set by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Three points matter for older households:
- Pensions count as income. A single pensioner with UAH 3,500 a month would, at a base of UAH 4,500, receive the difference of UAH 1,000. A couple with two pensions of UAH 3,200 would receive UAH 9,000 minus UAH 6,400, or UAH 2,600.
- It can be combined with payments to people of pension age who lack enough insurance service for a pension, according to the version adopted at first reading.
- It comes with an assessment. Social services in the community draw up an individual support plan, so the benefit is not paid automatically.
The 2027 base amount is not yet known; it will be written into the 2027 budget.
Indexation in 2026 and the 2027 numbers
The 1 March 2026 indexation coefficient was 1.121, set by Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 236 of 25 February 2026. Under the formula, half of the previous year's inflation (8.0%) is added to half of the growth in average insured wages over three years (16.11%).
For 2027 the government's draft budget raises the subsistence minimum for persons unable to work from UAH 2,595 to UAH 2,878, a 10.9% increase, which lifts the minimum pension by UAH 283 from 1 January. The maximum pension, ten subsistence minimums, rises from UAH 25,950 to UAH 28,780.
Danylo Hetmantsev, who chairs the parliamentary finance committee, has proposed much more: a minimum old-age pension of UAH 6,500, a minimum wage of UAH 12,000 and a subsistence minimum of UAH 7,200, with an extra UAH 100 billion for the Pension Fund. These are proposals to the draft budget, not adopted figures, and the government is already short of money this autumn: the finance minister told parliament on 12 October that UAH 18 billion of VAT refunds had been suspended.
The next regular indexation falls on 1 March 2027. If 2026 inflation ends near 10% and three-year wage growth stays close to 16%, the same formula gives roughly 13%. That is an averin.com calculation, not an official forecast.
The personal-finance angle: why a private plan matters
The state pension in Ukraine works as a floor. Even after this year's increase, more than four in ten pensioners live on less than UAH 5,000. In analyst Ruslan Averin's view, the useful question for anyone under 50 is not what the state will pay but what the household can add to it.
The voluntary third pillar is small and its reform is still in committee: bill No. 15570 on voluntary pension funds, registered on 28 August by 25 MPs led by Hetmantsev, has not been put to a vote, and an alternative, No. 15570-1, was registered on 11 September. Until that is settled, the realistic tools are hryvnia government bonds and deposits.
- OVDP. At the 6 October primary auction the Ministry of Finance placed one-year bonds maturing in September 2027 at a weighted average yield of 15.14% and bonds maturing in March 2029 at 16.49%. Interest on OVDP is exempt from personal income tax and military levy.
- Deposits. The highest 12-month hryvnia offers in the minfin.com.ua catalogue on 13 October were 16–17.5%. After 18% personal income tax and the 5% military levy, a 17.5% deposit pays about 13.5% net.
- The benchmark. The NBU key rate is 16%, and the next rate decision is due later in October.
A ladder splits savings across maturities, for example one-year, two-year and 2029 bonds, so that part of the money comes due every year and is reinvested at whatever rate is then available. It reduces the risk of locking everything in just before rates rise.
The numbers are concrete. UAH 2,000 a month for 20 years at a real return of 4% a year, roughly the gap between the 15.14% one-year OVDP yield and 10.0% inflation, accumulates to about UAH 733,500 in today's money. Drawing 4% a year from that sum gives about UAH 2,445 a month, a third on top of today's average pension. The assumption is generous: real returns on hryvnia instruments have been negative in some years, and the hryvnia's exchange rate is a separate risk, discussed in the comparison of deposits and OVDP after tax.
Related: the 2027 pension service requirements, September inflation of 10% and what it means for deposits and OVDP and the UAH 19,400 winter support payment.