Results of the All-Ukrainian public opinion poll
DESCRIPTION OF THE SAMPLE AND METHODOLOGY
The poll was conducted by the Razumkov Centre Sociological Service from June 21 to July 2, 2024.
The face-to-face poll was conducted in Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Transcarpathian, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Lviv, Mykolayiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi regions and the city of Kyiv (in Zaporizhia, Mykolayiv, Kharkiv, Kherson regions — only in the territories controlled by the government of Ukraine and free of hostilities).
The poll was conducted using stratified multistage sampling with random selection at the initial stages of sampling and quota selection of respondents at the final stage (when respondents were selected on the basis of gender and age quotas). The sample structure reproduces the demographic structure of the adult population of the territories where the poll was conducted as of the beginning of 2022 (by age, sex, settlement type).
2026 respondents over the age of 18 were polled. The sample theoretical error does not exceed 2.3%. At the same time, additional systemic deviations of the sample might be caused by the consequences of Russian aggression, in particular, forced evacuation of millions of citizens.
POLL RESULTS
- The majority of respondents believe that the tax policy in Ukraine should correspond to the approaches to taxation adopted in the European Union. More often, they suggest that this should happen after Ukraine's full accession to the EU.
- The majority of respondents consider it inappropriate to raise taxes and believe that such an increase, if it happens, may lead to the growth of the illegal market.
- According to those polled, the shift of consumers from more harmful to less harmful products is more influenced by the price, and less — by the appeals, information from the authorities or other reputable bodies.
Reflecting on the principles of tax policy in Ukraine, the majority of respondents (52%) tends to believe that it should correspond to the approaches to taxation adopted in the EU. That said, 35% of respondents believe that this should happen after Ukraine becomes a full member of the EU, and 17% believe that it should happen even before Ukraine joins the EU. More than a quarter of respondents (29%) believe that Ukraine’s tax policy should not follow the EU approaches. The rest of the respondents were undecided.
Do you think that the tax policy in Ukraine should correspond to the approaches to taxation adopted in the European Union? %
| Yes it should even before Ukraine’s full membership in the EU | 16.9 |
| Yes it should but only after Ukraine becomes a full member of the EU | 35.2 |
| No it should not | 29.3 |
| Hard to say | 18.7 |
In regional terms, residents of the Western regions most of all support harmonisation of Ukraine’s tax policy to the European approaches. Among them, 21% believe that Ukraine’s tax policy should correspond to the approaches of the European Union even before Ukraine joins the EU, 38% — after full membership, and 22% do not see such correspondence necessary. In the Central and Southern regions, 13% believe that Ukraine’s tax policy should correspond to the approaches of the European Union even before Ukraine joins the EU, 39% — after full membership. About a third of respondents in all those regions do not suggest that Ukraine’s tax policy should correspond to the EU approaches. Less than half of those polled in the Eastern regions believe that the tax policy in Ukraine should correspond to the EU approaches (22% believe that this should happen even before Ukraine's accession to the EU, and 20% — after). 27% of respondents there do not believe that Ukraine’s tax policy should correspond to EU approaches. At the same time, almost a third of respondents (31%) hesitated to answer this question, which is much more than in other regions (below 20%).
Do you think that the tax policy in Ukraine should correspond to the approaches to taxation adopted in the European Union? % depending on the region of the respondents’ residence
| West | Centre | South | East | |
| Yes it should even before Ukraine’s full membership in the EU | 21.2 | 13.1 | 12.6 | 21.9 |
| Yes it should but only after Ukraine becomes a full member of the EU | 38.2 | 38.9 | 38.7 | 20.3 |
| No it should not | 22.0 | 33.3 | 35.7 | 26.6 |
| Hard to say | 18.6 | 14.7 | 13.0 | 31.3 |
The regional division is as follows:
South: Odesa, Kherson, Mykolayiv regions
Center: Kyiv city, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Chernihiv regions
West: Volyn, Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, Chernivtsi regions
East: Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv regions
The older age group (60 years and more) stands out. Its representatives less than representatives of other age groups tend to believe that the tax policy in Ukraine should correspond to the approaches of the EU before or after Ukraine's accession to the Union (42%). 34% of representatives of this age group do not believe that Ukraine’s tax policy should correspond to EU approaches. The majority of respondents in other age groups (55–57%) believe that the tax policy in Ukraine should correspond to the EU approaches before or after Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. The opposite opinion is held by about a quarter of representatives of the other age groups.
Do you think that the tax policy in Ukraine should correspond to the approaches to taxation adopted in the European Union? % depending on the respondent age
| 18–29 | 30–39 | 40–49 | 50–59 | 60+ | |
| Yes it should even before Ukraine’s full membership in the EU | 22.3 | 15.8 | 16.7 | 18.2 | 14.0 |
| Yes it should but only after Ukraine becomes a full member of the EU | 33.1 | 41.0 | 39.9 | 37.6 | 27.7 |
| No it should not | 25.4 | 27.4 | 28.3 | 28.1 | 33.8 |
| Hard to say | 19.2 | 15.8 | 15.1 | 16.1 | 24.4 |
The majority of Ukrainian citizens (58%) is against raising taxes. A quarter of respondents (25.5%) believes that taxes should be raised, but gradually, taking into account the need to balance the country's need for additional revenues and the limited purchasing power of the population. Only 4.5% of respondents are sure that taxes should be raised promptly in order to ensure maximum revenues to the state budget within a short period of time. The rest of the respondents were undecided. Differences in the answers to this question among different groups of respondents are either statistically insignificant or small, even if statistically significant.
Do you think that taxes in Ukraine should be raised, with account of martial law? %
| Taxes should not be raised, given the limited purchasing power of the population | 58.1 |
| Taxes should be raised gradually, taking into account the need to balance the country’s need for additional revenues and the limited purchasing power of the population | 25.5 |
| Taxes should be raised promptly, to provide maximum revenues to the state budges soon | 4.5 |
| Hard to say | 11.8 |
Two-thirds of those polled (67.5%) believe that the increase in taxes will boost the illegal market of products, on which taxes are raised, 12% of respondents disagreed with this opinion. The rest was undecided. The answers to this question somewhat differ among the urban and rural population.
Do you think that an increase in taxes can boost the illegal market of products on which taxes are raised? %
| Yes it can | 67.5 |
| No it can not | 12.3 |
| Hard to say | 20.2 |
The answers to this question somewhat differ among the urban and rural population, although both in cities and villages, the absolute majority of respondents are sure that an increase in taxes will boost the illegal market of products on which taxes are raised, but citizens give this answer more often (70%) than villagers (62%).
Do you think that an increase in taxes can boost the illegal market for products on which taxes are raised? % depending on the settlement type
| City | Village | |
| Yes it can | 70.3 | 61.8 |
| No it can not | 10.4 | 16.0 |
| Hard to say | 19.3 | 22.2 |
A relative majority of respondents (47%) agrees that raising taxes on products that contain/emit more harmful substances, with unchanged taxes on similar products that contain/emit less harmful substances, can help reduce the demand for more harmful products. 21% of respondents disagreed with this opinion. A third of respondents (32%) remained undecided.
Do you think that higher taxes on products that contain/emit more harmful substances, not raising taxes on similar products that contain/emit less harmful substances, may help reduce the demand for more harmful products? %
| Yes they can | 46.7 |
| No they can not | 21.1 |
| Hard to say | 32.3 |
Respondents aged 30–39 years more (52%) agreed with this opinion, respondents aged 60 and over — less (41%). It should be added that 40% of respondents in the older age group could not answer this question.
Do you think that higher taxes on products that contain/emit more harmful substances, not raising taxes on similar products that contain/emit less harmful substances, may help reduce the demand for more harmful products? % depending on the respondent age
| 18–29 | 30–39 | 40–49 | 50–59 | 60+ | |
| Yes they can | 46.7 | 52.3 | 46.6 | 48.8 | 41.3 |
| No they can not | 24.5 | 19.6 | 25.1 | 19.5 | 18.6 |
| Hard to say | 28.8 | 28.1 | 28.3 | 31.7 | 40.1 |
Respondents were asked to assess the influence of various factors of the shift of /consumers from products that contain/release more harmful substances to less harmful products on a scale from 1 to 5, where "1" meant that this factor had no influence at all, and "5" — that the factor strongly influenced consumers’ choice.
According to the respondents, among the factors to be assessed, the price most of all influenced the consumers — its average score in the sample was 4.2 points. The influence of consumers' own observations regarding the impact of various products on the body or the environment was assessed at 3.6 points, on average. The influence of medical recommendations was assessed at 3.3 points, on average, and the reviews of other users — at 3.2 points. On average, respondents rated the influence of appeals and information from the authorities or other reputable bodies the lowest (2.8 points). Average scores do not differ or differ little in different groups of respondents.
Assess the influence of each factor on the shift of consumers from products that contain/release more harmful substances to less harmful products on a scale from 1 to 5, where "1" means "this factor has no influence at all", and "5" — "this factor has a very strong influence", %
| Points: | Hard to say | Average score | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| Price | 2.7 | 3.8 | 14.0 | 22.3 | 47.3 | 9.8 | 4.2 |
| Personal observations regarding the impact of various products on the body or the environment | 5.7 | 9.6 | 23.6 | 25.3 | 24.0 | 11.8 | 3.6 |
| Medical recommendations | 8.0 | 13.9 | 25.2 | 22.5 | 17.9 | 12.4 | 3.3 |
| Reviews by other consumers | 7.2 | 14.4 | 30.0 | 22.6 | 13.1 | 12.7 | 3.2 |
| Appeals and information from the authorities or other reputable bodies | 15.5 | 18.3 | 27.3 | 16.0 | 8.9 | 14.1 | 2.8 |
SOCIO-DEMOCRATIC PORTRAIT OF THOSE POLLED
Sex, %
| Male | 45.4 |
| Female | 54.6 |
Age, %
| 18–29 years | 15.9 |
| 30–39 years | 20.4 |
| 40–49 years | 18.3 |
| 50–59 years | 16.5 |
| 60 years and more | 28.9 |
Education, %
| Incomplete secondary | 1.1 |
| General secondary | 16.6 |
| Vocational secondary | 42.5 |
| Higher or incomplete higher | 39.6 |
| No answer | 0.2 |
Social status, %
| Enterprise manager, head of an organisation or an enterprise division | 1.0 |
| Businessman, farmer | 1.9 |
| Self-employed, individual entrepreneur | 5.1 |
| Expert (humanitarian, technical, in natural sciences, etc.) | 12.4 |
| Military servant, officer of the Security Service or the Ministry of Internal Affairs | 1.9 |
| State servant | 2.2 |
| Another official | 7.7 |
| Worker | 23.9 |
| Student | 4.0 |
| Housewife | 5.8 |
| Pensioner | 24.9 |
| Disabled (including physically challenged) | 2.4 |
| Unemployed (not officially registered) | 3.7 |
| Unemployed (officially registered) | 0.3 |
| Other | 1.1 |
| No answer | 1.6 |
Language mainly spoken at home by the respondent, %
| Ukrainian | 67.5 |
| Russian | 9.6 |
| Both Ukrainian and Russian | 22.1 |
| Other | 0.1 |
| Hard to say | 0.6 |
