According to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the demographic situation in the country continues to deteriorate. According to an analytical report by Opendatabot, in the first half of 2024, only 87,655 children were born in Ukraine, which is 9% less than in the same period last year. At the same time, the number of deaths reached 250,972, which is three times the number of births, reports Komersant ukrainskyi
The drop in the birth rate is particularly noticeable compared to the pre-war period. In 2021, before the full-scale invasion began, 132,595 children were born in the first half of the year, which is 1.5 times more than now.
The regional breakdown shows that the largest number of babies were registered in Kyiv (9,695), Lviv (7,923) and Dnipro (6,962) regions. In contrast, the situation is critical in the frontline regions: only 221 babies were born in Kherson, 702 in Donetsk, and no babies were registered in Luhansk over the past six months.
The highest number of deaths was recorded in Dnipropetrovska oblast (26,374), Kharkivska oblast (17,999) and Kyivska oblast (17,449). The lowest mortality rates are observed in Kherson (2,334), Donetsk (5,753) and Chernivtsi (5,422) regions.
At the same time, the figures show that the number of deaths in the first half of 2024 is the lowest in the last 7 years. However, it is difficult to draw conclusions from this indicator, as Ukraine has been losing territory in recent years, the population has been declining, and the proportion of deaths to the total population is obviously higher.
Experts note that this ratio of births to deaths is one of the key indicators of the demographic crisis. For comparison, in 2018-2020, there were two deaths per newborn child, while now this ratio has increased to 1:3.
Analysts attribute the deterioration in the demographic situation to the consequences of the full-scale invasion, which led to mass migration, economic instability and a general deterioration in living conditions in the country.
Despite the overall decrease in the number of deaths compared to 2021 (when 349,041 deaths were recorded for the same period), experts note that this comparison is incorrect, as 2021 was a peak year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.