Kyiv, 24 March 2023 – According to Ukraine’s second Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA), $411 billion is now needed to rebuild and recover from the full-scale Russian invasion, a dramatic increase from the results of a similar study in June 2022. The report also reveals that the invasion pushed 7.1 million people into poverty and reversed 15 years of development progress. 

The United Nations – under the technical leadership of the UN Development Programme, and in collaboration with the Government of Ukraine, the World Bank, and the European Commission, conducted the RDNA to comprehensively assess the damage and losses caused during one year of war. 

According to the report, poverty has risen in a year from 5.5 percent to 24.1 percent, and Ukraine’s GDP has shrunk by 29.2 percent.

As a consequence, there have been dramatic setbacks to many of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially those related to poverty, health, education, energy, industry, peace and justice.

Extensive infrastructure damage has left millions of Ukrainians without housing and has disrupted electricity and water supplies.

The report highlights the human impact of the war on Ukraine’s people, with 5.4 million people internally displaced and 8.1 million having fled abroad.

The greatest burden has been born by women, children, older persons, people with disabilities and the displaced, who need public services, housing, and jobs.

UNDP co-led and provided substantive contributions to sectors related to energy, mine action, municipal services, crisis response, justice and public administration, and the human cost of war.

The report also identified the most pressing needs for reconstruction and recovery in 2023, which include restoring energy, housing, critical and social infrastructure, providing basic services for the most vulnerable, managing explosive hazards, and promoting private sector development. 

UNDP Resident Representative Jaco Cilliers said that as part of the coordinated UN response, UNDP has been assisting the people and Government of Ukraine to recover and reconstruct from the onset of the full-scale invasion, ensuring that immediate needs are linked to long-term goals. “To tackle the growing recovery needs, UNDP developed and is implementing, with the support of several international partners, its Resilience Building and Recovery Programme, he said. “The programme provides solutions to the realities of a fast-moving context and is geared towards advancing a humanitarian-development response to the devastating impacts of the war.” 

Cilliers said preparations for the next winter season should focus on restoring electricity to millions of Ukrainians and restoring critical social infrastructure, including heating, drinking water, wastewater treatment, and security of high-voltage transformers. The cost of covering immediate needs is around US$2.1 billion. 

Clearing explosive ordnance should also be prioritized, he said, as it is a vital precondition to enable rehabilitation of critical infrastructure, productive land and housing, and to allow people to safely return home and start rebuilding their lives. The RDNA report estimates the cost for clearance at US$37.6 billion. 

The destruction inflicted upon Ukraine's municipal and emergency response services is catastrophic. The cost of damages to municipal services alone amounts to $2.4 billion. The emergency response services have recorded damages totalling $179.7 million. 

The RDNA marks a significant step in the ongoing effort to provide data evidence assessing the extent of the destruction and to chart a path towards recovery and reconstruction for the country.

Media inquiries: Yuliia Samus, Communications Team Leader, UNDP in Ukraine; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org