UN: Since the beginning of the war, the population of Ukraine has decreased by 10 million

Due to the war, the population of Ukraine is decreasing. Photo: UNIAN

The population of Ukraine has decreased by 10 million people since the beginning of the full-scale war. This happened due to mass migration, a decrease in the birth rate and the death of Ukrainians in the war.

This was reported by Florence Bauer, head of the Eastern European branch of the UN Population Fund.

According to Bauer, the demographic situation in Ukraine was difficult even before the invasion, but the war in 2022 has significantly worsened it. The birth rate has fallen dramatically and now stands at about one child per woman, one of the lowest in the world. She also emphasized that a birth rate of 2.1 children per woman is necessary to maintain a stable population.

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She is sure that the exact impact of the war on the population can be assessed only after the end of the conflict and a population census.

«Exact numbers are difficult to give, but according to estimates, the number of victims is in the tens of thousands,» Bauer said.

The main factor in population reduction was the 6.7 million refugees who are now abroad, mainly in European countries. In addition, the demographic situation was affected by significant losses among the military.

We will remind that as of May 2024, the number of residents of Mykolaiv is about 430 thousand people. Before the invasion, the city had a population of 500,000.

How did the population level change in Mykolaiv?

As you know, since the beginning of the full-scale war in Ukraine, about 45% of the townspeople have left Mykolaiv.

The statistics began to change positively only after the pre-occupation of the right bank of the Kherson region. And already in September 2023, about 350-360 thousand people lived in Mykolaiv. This was the same indicator compared to May of the same year. At the same time, 56,000 of that number are internally displaced persons.

At the same time, in May, the head of the Mykolaiv Oblast Vitalii Kim reported that about 80% of the pre-war population lives in the Mykolaiv region, but there are far fewer jobs.