The volume of construction in Ukraine remains almost 40% below pre-war levels

The volume of construction work performed in Ukraine in 2025 increased by 12% y/y, to UAH 248 billion. For the second year in a row, the industry has seen a slowdown in growth: in 2023 and 2024, the figure was 25% y/y and 15.5% y/y, respectively.

The slowdown is due to limited opportunities for state financing of infrastructure restoration, as well as restrained business activity in the residential and non-residential real estate segments. An additional restraining factor was the general slowdown in economic activity and a significant electricity shortage.

According to GMK Center estimates, the construction market volume in dollar terms grew by 16.7% y/y in 2025, to $6 billion. However, this is 38% less than the pre-war figure for 2021 ($9.5 billion). The calculations did not take into account dollar inflation since the start of the war, which amounted to approximately 19%.

In terms of individual segments, the increase in construction work last year was as follows:

• non-residential construction – by 27.4% y/y, to UAH 81.1 billion;
• residential construction – by 13.6% y/y, to UAH 33.2 billion;
• engineering structures – by 3.6% y/y, to UAH 134 billion.

Non-residential construction showed the highest growth among all market segments. The construction of industrial buildings, logistics centers, and warehouses developed actively, and to a lesser extent, recreational construction in the west of the country. The western and central regions remained the main growth points.

The engineering construction segment lost its role as a driver of industry growth. This is due to the termination in 2025 of USAID funding for programs to restore destroyed infrastructure and protective structures over energy facilities. Another reason is the lack of state financial resources for the same purposes. Only in the fall of 2025, after the resumption of systematic shelling of energy infrastructure, did the state again accelerate work on the creation of protective structures over energy facilities.

Despite a 13.6% year-on-year increase in the volume of construction work completed in residential construction in 2025, the total area of housing commissioned in Ukraine at the end of last year decreased by 2.1% – to 9.6 million square meters. The industry went into decline after growing by 21% y/y in 2024 – to 9.76 million square meters.

The growth in construction activity led to an increase in demand for steel products for construction purposes. According to Metinvest-SMC, total steel consumption in Ukraine increased by 12% – to 3.4 million tons in 2025. Consumption of rebar increased by 14% in 2025, galvanized rolled products by 27%, and beams, channels, and angles by 14%.

At the end of last year, new construction accounted for 40.3% of the total volume of construction work performed, repairs for 33.2%, and reconstruction and technical re-equipment for 26.6%.