A study of agro-economic development and its impact on socio-economic inequality in Ukraine

Abstract

In today’s world, the problem of inequality is gaining global significance, and numerous international institutions set among their main tasks the fight against its manifestations – economic, social, etc. The study of economic inequality during martial law is extremely relevant, as it primarily negatively affects people’s lives and well-being, provokes crises and additional social tensions, and, as a result, destabilizes the state system and the national economy, which are already in a state of crisis due to military operations. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the causes of social and financial stratification of Ukrainian society in the context of agro-economic development. The dynamics of salary in Ukraine, in particular, in the agricultural sector, was studied using the method of statistical analysis, and the index of general economic stratification was calculated using the Gini coefficient method. Statistical data on the development of the agricultural land market was analysed, starting from the end of the moratorium in July 2021 and until June 2023. As a result, the current key indicators of the land market in Ukraine, and information on salary in various sectors of the economy in the period from 2014 to 2022 were obtained, and the incomes of agricultural employees were analysed, which turned out to be below average. For a more objective assessment, statistics on the largest agricultural countries of the European Union were used and compared with their inequality indicators. The calculation of the Gini coefficient showed a 10% increase in the inequality of income distribution of Ukrainian households between 2014 and 2022, but it was still lower than the current indicators of such European countries as Germany, Sweden, and Poland. The practical significance of the work lies in the development of recommendations for reducing the gap between rich and poor in Ukraine, in particular in the agricultural sector, which can be used by the relevant authorities to redistribute the agricultural market and optimize tax legislation