Foreigners registered 1648 sole proprietorships in Ukraine: who leads among non-residents

In 2025, 1,648 foreigners registered sole proprietorships in Ukraine, which is 10% less than the previous year. Overall, only 0.7% of the new entrepreneurs this year are non-residents of the country. During this period, 1,158 foreign sole proprietorships ceased operations, resulting in a net gain of 490 non-resident entrepreneurs. This means that the share of foreigners among the total number of entrepreneurs who closed their businesses is only 0.5%.

Unlike the sole proprietorships of citizens, foreign ones are more often started by men: 69% versus 31% of female entrepreneurs.

It is also worth noting that non-resident sole proprietorships are relatively resilient in their operations, with a median duration of 3.1 years. An interesting fact: a sole proprietorship with citizenship from the Russian Federation operated for 30 years, which is an absolute record. In comparison, Ukrainian sole proprietorships last slightly less - on average 2.5 years. The practice of foreigners registering sole proprietorships is an absolutely legal practice that allows people with the right to reside in Ukraine to conduct legitimate business activities and pay taxes. The largest number of new entrepreneurs in 2025 comes from Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Armenia. Closures of foreign businesses most often occur in the retail, computer programming, and catering sectors. The publication indicates that the number of foreign entrepreneurs in Ukraine has slightly decreased compared to the previous year, but they remain quite resilient in their activities. Non-residents are actively engaged in various types of businesses, although men dominate in this category. Also important is information about the countries from which new foreign entrepreneurs most often come, as well as the sectors where they most frequently close their businesses.