In 2011 the level of software piracy in Ukraine dropped by two percentage notches for the first time over the past three years, to 84%, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

At the same time Ukraine's unlicensed software market in 2011 expanded by 13% in monetary terms, to $647 million.

"A decline in the level of piracy in the country was mainly due to legalization in the large-sized business sector. At the same time, the situation in the government sector and the SMB segment remains disappointing. That is why Ukraine is still among the top ten countries with the highest piracy rates," said Dmytro Shymkiv, the director general of Microsoft Ukraine, which is a Business Software Alliance (BSA) member.

In general, the average piracy rate in the world is 42%.

BSA has conducted such a study for nine years in a row. It covers 116 countries and regions in the world.

Based on INTERFAX-UKRAINE report