Ukraine's State Statistics Service launches household survey pilot in Ternopil region ahead of nationwide rollout

This fall, after a pause of more than three years caused by Russia's aggression, Ukraine's State Statistics Service will resume household surveys. To this end, it has developed a new tool – a survey portal – and launched a pilot project in Ternopil region, State Statistics Service Head Arsen Makarchuk told Interfax-Ukraine in an interview.

"We developed a new service, which we call the survey portal. Essentially, it's an electronic questionnaire that can be filled out on a tablet – with an interviewer assisting the respondent – or independently via phone or web: a person can simply follow a link without meeting anyone in person," he explained.

Before the war, surveys were conducted exclusively on paper, with interviewers filling out questionnaires "sitting in the kitchen and drinking tea with the head of the household," Makarchuk said.

He added that during the three years of war, the network of interviewers who used to visit households was idled and not maintained.

The new system is being tested in a pilot project launched in early August in Ternopil region.

"We want to understand how the tool itself works and, more importantly, under what conditions we can communicate with households: whether people will open their doors, whether they are at home, whether they are willing to participate in phone or web surveys," Makarchuk said.

Preliminary results are more optimistic than expected: people are engaging and opening their doors.

"Of the three options – in-person, by phone, or online – the most effective so far has been phone surveys. As for online self-completion, interest is minimal," he said.

The pilot is currently focused on the Labor Force Survey, but overall, there are four types of household surveys: household budgets; agricultural activity (primarily in rural areas); and the new EU-SILC survey – the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, with comparable data to be submitted to Eurostat. Ukraine plans to conduct EU-SILC for the first time next year.

Participants in the household budget survey receive a stipend of just under UAH 300 as compensation for maintaining a two-week expenditure diary, recording all household spending.

"The findings from this small pilot in Ternopil will be drawn over the coming weeks and will significantly influence our overall strategy in the fall. In any case, the data will be published in Q1 2026 based on results from Q4 2025," Makarchuk said.