The annual inflation rate in December fell by 1.5% to 8% compared to the same figures last year, with core inflation (which excludes volatile prices) decreasing to the same figure of 8%.
Uncertainty remains as to whether inflation will decelerate to its target of 5% given Russia’s attacks on the energy sector which could create the conditions to push inflation higher, jeopardising relief for Ukraine’s economy.
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But for now it seems that inflation is steadily decreasing despite elevated risks under intensified Russian strikes on the energy grid.
Ukraine’s State Statistics Service published the latest figures in a report on Friday.
Consumer inflation in Ukraine in December 2025
Consumer price inflation in December 2025 compared with November stood at 0.2%, and at 8% compared with December 2024.
Inflation finally fell into single digits after a whole year of double-digit price pressures which caused concern among Ukraine’s economists and regulators.
Ukraine’s economy continues to battle through economic pressures caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion, but the path to the central bank’s 5% target is shortening every month, assuming no further risks emerge to buck that trend.
Core inflation in Ukraine in December 2025
Core inflation, overall, slowed by 1.3% compared to last year’s figures (year-over-year).
Ukraine’s statistics estimated year-over-year core inflation to be at 8% in December 2025, compared with 9.3% in the same month the previous year.
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The comparison of monthly numbers this year shows a fall from 0.3% in November 2025 to 0.1% this month.
In November, core inflation dropped back to its 2024 level, marking a full year since the upward trend began and finally reversed.
Food prices in Ukraine in December 2025
In December, overall prices for food products and non-alcoholic beverages remained unchanged.
At the same time, prices for eggs, processed grain products, fish and fish products, bread, sunflower oil, lard, vegetables, beef, and milk rose between 0.7% and 5.6%.
Prices for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products rose by 1.0%, driven by a 1.9% increase in tobacco prices.
Utilities, services and clothes prices in Ukraine in December 2025
Transport prices rose by 0.7%, mainly due to a 1.3% increase in rail passenger fares and a 1.1% rise in fuel and lubricant prices.
Clothing and footwear became 3.9% cheaper, including a 4.4% decrease for footwear and 3.6% for clothing.
Telecommunications services decreased slightly by 0.1%.
Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels rose by 0.1%. These are administratively regulated prices that the government keeps below market levels, which is why they have not yet increased significantly – unless Ukraine’s government decides otherwise.
Inflation in Ukraine started decelerating from its 15.9% peak in May 2025. The key contributor is an increase in the supply of new harvest agricultural products.
Labor market constraints – workforce shortfalls due to internal and external migration – has continued to impose tension on inflation since the middle of 2024.
The effects of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid that drove an inflation spike in 2024 have started to weigh on inflation again, though the risk has not materialised for now.
National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) Governor Andriy Pyshny previously noted that inflationary pressures had strengthened due to strikes on the energy infrastructure and higher budget spending.