At least half of the more or less prominent Ukrainian translation agencies claim to be “the leaders,” “the largest ones,” or “the first ones” on their websites and social media pages. Most often this is just a marketing ploy, and the written words do not match the reality. We will try to find some objective information.

International Rankings

The most reputable organizations involved in international translation market research are Slator, Nimdzi, and CSA Research. Let’s look for data on Ukrainian companies in their reports.

We will start with Nimdzi. The company’s experts annually make a ranking of the top 100 largest language service providers worldwide. Unfortunately, there are no Ukrainian translation agencies included. So, let’s look for data not only in the international rankings, but also in regional ones that include smaller companies.

The Slator agency has compiled a worldwide ranking of 350 language service providers, and there are Ukrainian companies among them.

• Technolex Translation Studio ranks 182nd
• Profpereklad ranks 231st
• InText ranks 235th
• Task Force ranks 249th

CSA Research has singled out Eastern Europe as a separate region in its ranking. The same Ukrainian translation agencies were included in the ranking and in the same order.

• Technolex Translation Studio ranks 10th in Eastern Europe
• Profpereklad ranks 16th
• InText ranks 17th
• Task Force ranks 19th

These are likely to be the largest translation agencies in Ukraine. Obviously, they adapt rather well to modern conditions and offer a wide range of services beyond traditional translation. However, there are several factors worth mentioning.

First, some major agencies may have simply not submitted their data to the ranking. Some are not aware of it at all, while others, for reasons known only to them, do not consider it necessary to provide their detailed information. Thus, this ranking may not be comprehensive.

Second, since the beginning of the war between the Russia and Ukraine, at least some teams of Ukrainian companies had left Ukraine and established their offices in other countries. Therefore, it is important to realize that part of their business is now based outside of Ukraine, and each brand may cover several companies.

Third, it is not known what share of translation agencies’ profits comes specifically from translation, as they provide many other linguistic services, such as text recognition, desktop publishing, text processing, subtitling, video dubbing, artificial intelligence training, and even software development. Sometimes the share of these non-translation services in the company’s total profit is significant, and sometimes it is even higher.

Moreover, each company has its own specialization. Some of them translate technical documentation while others provide subtitling and voice-over services, and some offer notarization of documents.

Conclusion

When choosing a translation agency, you should consider not only its marketing promises but also concrete facts like its specialization, reputation, and financial performance. International ratings and analytical studies provide a more or less true picture, though not a comprehensive one.