Mass Exodus of IT Entrepreneurs: Over 26 Thousand Individual Entrepreneurs Closed in 10 Months

Exodus of Individual Entrepreneurs in the IT Field

In Ukraine, there is a mass exodus of individual entrepreneurs in the field of computer programming. In the ten months of 2023, 26,158 individual entrepreneurs closed, while only 18,605 were newly registered. This has led to a total loss of 7,553 entrepreneurs, indicating serious changes in the IT services market.

Regional Features and Statistics

The balance of new entrepreneurs exceeds closed ones in only two regions:

• Volyn, where there are 19 more new entrepreneurs registered;
• Ternopil region, with an additional 12 new entrepreneurs.

The most new registrations occurred in:

• Kyiv (3,737);
• Lviv region (2,015);
• Dnipro region (1,740);
• Kharkiv region (1,557);
• Kyiv region (1,338).

Among the new entrepreneurs, 57% are men, while 43% are women.

The median lifespan of a closed individual entrepreneur in 2025 is four years. At the same time, every sixth IT entrepreneur ceases operations within the first year. Meanwhile, the Gini statistics show an 11% increase in IT job vacancies, totaling 80,297 job offers in 2023. It is important to note that in 2022, 87% of IT specialists worked as individual entrepreneurs, while in 2023 this figure dropped to 57%. These data highlight the challenges faced by the IT sector in Ukraine.

This outflow of individual entrepreneurs may indicate the negative impact of the economic situation and changes in business conditions in Ukraine. The decrease in the number of individual entrepreneurs in the IT sector points to potential issues with financial stability and the attractiveness of entrepreneurial activity. At the same time, the increase in job vacancies may indicate a need for new specialists, opening opportunities for those who remain in the industry. These trends require careful monitoring by the government and market players to ensure the sector's stability.