The UN has counted how much population of Ukraine has decreased since 2022
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Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's population has decreased by 10 million people — about a quarter. The reasons are the mass exodus of Ukrainians abroad, a drop in the birth rate and deaths due to hostilities.
This was stated by Florence Bauer, head of the Eastern European branch of the UN Population Fund, as Reuters reports.
Ukraine's population has decreased by a quarter since 2022
As noted by the UN, Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 significantly worsened the demographic situation in Ukraine.
According to the head of the Eastern European branch of the UN Population Fund, the birth rate has decreased sharply, which is now about one child per woman. This is one of the lowest rates in the world. Florence Bauer emphasized that the required fertility rate should be 2.1 children per woman for maintaining a stable population.
"The regions that have been almost emptied have suffered the most — villages where only the elderly remain, as well as couples who cannot start a family," the publication says.
But, as the UN noted, the 6.7 million refugees had the greatest impact on the reduction of Ukraine's population. The situation was also affected by losses among the military.
"It is difficult to give exact numbers, but, according to estimates, the number of victims is tens of thousands," Bauer concluded.
It will be possible to calculate the consequences of the war for Ukraine only when it becomes possible to conduct a population census.
As a reminder, the Ukrainian Parliament has registered a draft law proposing to introduce a "childlessness tax" to improve the demographic situation in the country.
Previously, Novyny.LIVE wrote that the demographic situation in Ukraine is deteriorating during the war, although the statistics were disappointing before that. Experts are convinced that even after the war ends, it will not be possible to improve the birth rate.
