The most severe demographic crisis in the world: how much Ukraine’s population has decreased due to the war

In Ukraine, the birth rate has fallen sharply amid the war, and the country has lost about 10 million people through death, occupation, and emigration. The birth rate has fallen to below 1 child per woman, which experts call a demographic catastrophe.

This is reported by CNN .

Leading Ukrainian demographer Ella Libanova stated that population losses since the start of the full-scale war are critical for the state.

“This is a catastrophe. No country can exist without people. Even before the war, Ukraine’s population density was low and very uneven,” said Ella Libanova.

According to her, Ukraine has lost about 10 million people, including through death, forced migration abroad, and living in occupied territories. At the same time, the birth rate, which had been declining before, has now virtually collapsed.

Doctor Valeriy Zukin, director of the Kyiv clinic of reproductive medicine “Nadiya”, noted that the war negatively affects the reproductive health of Ukrainians.

“We are seeing more complications, more anomalies, more difficulties with carrying a pregnancy,” said Valery Zukin.

Reproductive specialist Alla Baranenko added that stress reduces the quality of eggs in women and worsens sperm performance in men, particularly in the military.

“The quality of eggs is worse and their quantity is decreasing — and this is due to stress,” said Alla Baranenko.

According to analysts at the American Center for Strategic and International Studies, between 100,000 and 140,000 Ukrainians have been killed since the start of the full-scale invasion. Ukraine does not publish official data on casualties.

As of today, 59,000 children in Ukraine live without biological parents, most of them in foster care. In addition, about 6 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, are registered as refugees abroad.

Ella Libanova emphasized that with each month of the war, the risk that Ukrainians who left will not return increases.

“Every month there is more destruction here and more of our war migrants are adapting to a new life abroad. Fewer are returning,” she said.

It has been previously reported that Ukraine is rapidly approaching a demographic catastrophe : the war is sharply reducing the population, reducing the birth rate and undermining the country’s ability to recover. This is evidenced by the fact that in Ukraine , for every child born, there are three deaths , which indicates an aggravation of the demographic situation.

As is known, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Demography and Quality of Life Problems of the NAS, Oleksandr Gladun, stated that in order to preserve the population of Ukraine , 100 women of reproductive age should give birth to 210-220 children .

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