The rapid growth of the IT market of Ukraine during the war. Research

The IT industry, along with the entire country, has demonstrated phenomenal resilience in the face of the many challenges and trials that war has brought. February 24, 2022 became a turning point for Ukraine and the date of a new historical reference for the whole world. The industry remains the only export industry of Ukraine, which fully works in wartime, maintains the country's economic front, actively helps the army and supports a powerful volunteer movement.

"According to the results of ten months of 2022, the IT industry brought 6 billion US dollars in export revenue to the Ukrainian economy and achieved 10% growth compared to the previous year. Such results became possible due to the effective implementation of business continuity plans, timely relocation of teams and diversification of development centers in Ukraine and abroad,"

says the Executive Director of the IT Ukraine Association Kostyantyn Vasyuk.

The Ukrainian IT industry has the prerequisites to become the main driver of the reconstruction of Ukraine after the end of the war thanks to the fact that IT companies continue to work and implement projects even in the event of blackouts, pay taxes on time, increase their presence in the global market and attract new customers.

The IT Ukraine Association has conducted an annual study of the Ukrainian IT market. IT is one of the leading industries of the Ukrainian economy and is growing rapidly every year. Thus, over the past 6 years, the share of computer services exports in GDP has increased from 1.8% to 3.5%, and in services exports - from 13.4% to 37.8%. 289,000 people are employed in the field of ICT (information and telecommunications), which is 1.9% of all employed people.

The IT industry is mostly export-oriented. Over the last 6 years, the export volume of computer services grew by an average of 26.8% every year and in 2021 reached 6.9 billion dollars, which exceeded the forecast by 0.1 billion dollars.

The active development of the IT industry leads to an increase in the number of IT specialists. Since 2015, their number has increased by 116%, mostly due to the growth of active IE`s, because this interaction is more convenient for companies. Traditional IT education prepares 16-17 thousand bachelors every year. In 2022, the number of graduates has decreased due to a full-scale invasion, as some students have been forced to suspend their studies.

In 2021, almost 1,200 institutions of higher education taught students in Ukraine. More than 300 of them trained IT specialists of various educational levels and specialties. However, formal education usually cannot cover all the needs of the IT industry, so the majority of professionals need additional education. It is represented by IT schools and courses in Ukraine.

The financial market of Ukraine has been significantly transformed in recent years. Classic financial institutions are mastering modern technologies and releasing new products, technology companies are opening their own fintech startups, neo-banks and quickly conquering the market.

The full-scale invasion of Russia on February 24, 2022 divided the life of the country into "before" and "after". But despite this, the IT sector is one of the few sectors of the Ukrainian economy that was able not only to maintain the volume of service exports, but also to increase them. Relocation became the main challenge for IT specialists during the war. 64% of them were forced to move because of the war, but 24% had already returned to where they lived before the full-scale invasion began. In view of this, the approach to work has changed - after the start of a full-scale war, more than 75% of specialists work remotely in 71.5% of companies.

The war was a real test for the IT industry, because all companies faced problems and new challenges. According to the survey of the Association of IT Ukraine and Top Lead, 4.3% of companies have successfully adapted to new realities, and more than 43% of IT companies expect an increase in business volumes based on the results of 2022.

According to the NBU, the projected export volume of computer services in 2022 is 7.1 billion dollars.

"Once again we prove that any challenges can be turned into opportunities! With our joint efforts, we are creating the history of industry development in the most difficult time for Ukraine! We thank all Ukrainian IT specialists for continuing their daily selfless work and protecting us on their front line,"

commented Inna Solovyova, CEO & Co-Founder of Integrity Vision.

Source: Research by the IT Ukraine Association