World Bank defines Ukraine as upper-middle-income country

This is stated in the World Bank's country classification.

"The World Bank Group assigns the world's economies to four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high. The classifications are updated each year on July 1, based on the GNI per capita of the previous calendar year," the statement reads.

According to the World Bank, the upgrade of Ukraine's classification was the result of the resumption of economic growth in 2023. Thus, in 2023, Ukraine's real GDP grew by 5.3% after falling by 28.8% in 2022. Ukraine's upgrade was also influenced by a decline in population, which has decreased by more than 15% since the beginning of the Russian invasion. 

"These factors were further amplified by price increases of domestically produced goods and services to result in a large increase in nominal Atlas GNI per capita of 18.5%," the World Bank added.

Although Ukraine's economy has been severely affected by the Russian invasion, real growth in 2023 was driven by construction activity (24.6%), reflecting a significant increase in investment spending (52.9%), which supports Ukraine's efforts to recover from the ongoing destruction.

Besides Ukraine, Algeria, Iran, and Mongolia have risen to the category of upper-middle-income countries this year.

• On May 31, reports indicated that as a result of Russia's full-scale invasion, the number of Ukrainians living in poverty has increased by 1.8 million compared to 2020.