Trade, IT and real estate: Odesa region among top regions by number of new businesses in 2025

Odesa region is among the five leading regions in terms of the number of new businesses from July to September 2025. Despite the war and economic challenges, the region demonstrates a steady trend in business development.

This is evidenced by a study by YC.Market.

Overall, the top sectors in terms of the number of new businesses in Ukraine include wholesale trade (2971 companies), information technology (2586), real estate (2214), transport and logistics (1943), and construction (1885). The top ten also includes agriculture, other services, retail, food processing and mechanical engineering.

The most popular sectors in July-September 2025 among newly created businesses. Photo: YC.Market.

Compared to the first half of the year, the most popular areas of business development have hardly changed. The IT industry continues to grow rapidly in Ukraine: it has already risen to second place, overtaking even the real estate sector.

Wholesale trade also accounted for the largest number of closed businesses — 388 companies. This is followed by real estate operations (195), agriculture (191), construction (144) and other services (132). The study notes that the greatest pressure on businesses in Ukraine is currently exerted by the security environment and high levels of competition. Two areas dropped out of the top ten — NGOs and healthcare facilities — giving way to the food industry.

Sectors in which the most businesses were closed from July to September 2025. Photo: YC.Market.

In general, in the third quarter, most new companies are traditionally registered in the northern and western regions, which have better security conditions and a large population. The capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, is the leader (2805). Lviv (660) and Dnipropetrovsk (563) regions continue to demonstrate high dynamics. Odesa region was ranked fifth among the regions with 452 new companies registered here, which maintains the region's position among the key centres of business activity in the South.

Regional distribution of the most popular businesses in the third quarter of 2025. Photo: YC.Market.

The lowest number of companies was registered in Donetsk (14), Kherson (15), Chernihiv (70), Chernivtsi (88) and Sumy (92) regions, which are significantly affected by the hostilities and significant logistical challenges, including power outages.

In Mykolaiv, the figure for these months was only 147 new registrations, which is still significantly lower than in Odesa. In addition, more than 800 businesses in Mykolaiv region resumed operations during the full-scale war. However, this has not overcome all the challenges faced by the region. For example, Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych previously explained that without additional financial support, the city and other frontline areas will not be able to develop their economy. According to the mayor, due to constant shelling and Russian propaganda that scares people of a possible seizure of the city, some residents are leaving and businesses are in no hurry to invest.

More than 800 businesses in Mykolaiv region have resumed operations, archive photo: NikVesti

The gender picture among new businesses is also interesting. Between July and September 2025, women founded 2395 companies — 31.5% of all new businesses. Men — 5189 (68.5%). According to YC.Market, the gender gap during the war has not only not disappeared, but has worsened: the inequality of conditions is still noticeable.

Among the companies that ceased operations, 29.9% were owned by women founders and 70.1% by men. The distribution is almost proportional to the overall structure of registrations, which may indicate a similar level of business resilience regardless of the gender of the managers.

Earlier, NikVesti wrote that Odesa region was among the five regions where the largest number of new sole proprietorships in the catering sector opened this year — more than a thousand establishments.