After a forced halt caused by the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian statistics are beginning to undergo a systematic transformation. Recently, Arsen Makarchuk, Head of the State Statistics Service, presented a public report for 2025, in which he paid particular attention to the needs of regions and communities.

Key takeaways from the report for local government representatives were announcements of initiatives aimed to make official statistics an accessible tool for decision-making.

The State Statistics Service lists the launch of pilot community 'passports’ among its priority projects for 2026. These are intended to be structured datasets that will compile key information on the socio-economic situation of a specific territory.

Why do communities need this? The tool will enable local authorities to:

• Gain a comprehensive understanding: objective data on demographics, the economy, household income, and the budgetary sector, all in one place.
• Justify their needs: have solid arguments when preparing applications to participate in reconstruction programmes, attract donor funds or investments.
• Plan effectively: draft development strategies based not on rough estimates, but on official, verified indicators.

Another important area for the regions is the integration of data from 25 regional statistical offices into the functionality of the updated national portal stat.gov.ua.

The State Statistics Service explained that this Unified Digital Portal for Regional Statistics will allow users to avoid navigating through the websites of regional offices and instead access all necessary information in a convenient format on a single platform. As previously reported, in November 2025 the portal was updated with a data bank, interactive dashboards, and even an AI assistant for searching for information.

Arsen Makarchuk noted that 2025 was a turning point: mandatory statistical reporting was successfully reinstated, allowing GDP calculations, average wages, and industry and construction indices to be returned to the public domain. In December, the household living conditions survey was also relaunched – the sole source of data used to analyse the real well-being of the population, on the basis of which social policy is formulated, including at the local level.

‘We faced a choice: either continue to lose our capacity, or embark on a difficult path of transformation. We chose to restore statistics and build a modern digital statistical service capable of providing the state with data for decision-making,’ said the Head of the State Statistics Service.

According to the Head of the Service, the adaptation of Ukrainian statistics to EU standards is not merely a matter of reputation. It is a practical tool for the negotiation process and, in the long term, for communities, which will be able to use harmonised indicators when preparing projects for cross-border cooperation and participation in European programmes.

‘Statistics provide the objective information basis for the negotiation process with the European Union and help assess the progress of reforms,’ emphasised Arsen Makarchuk.

In 2026, the State Statistics Service plans to shift the focus from ‘relaunch’ to ‘sustainability’. This means the further development of public finance statistics, the integration of administrative data (to reduce the burden on businesses and respondents) and, indeed, the implementation of the announced projects for communities.