Ukraine’s population fell by 10 million after Russia’s 2014 invasion, UN says

Ukraine’s population has declined by more than 10 million since Russia invaded in 2014, according to Florence Bauer, regional director of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia branch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) .

Russian troops first invaded Ukraine in 2014, occupying parts of the eastern Donbas region and illegally annexing the Crimean peninsula.

Since then, Ukraine’s population has fallen by more than 10 million and the number of refugees has risen to 6.7 million, with the large-scale invasion of 2022 compounding an already dire decline.

“The birth rate plummeted and currently stands at around one child per woman, which is one of the lowest in the world,” Bauer said on Oct. 22 at a briefing in Geneva.

Ukraine’s birth rate is now the lowest in Europe, according to the UN

Refugees account for a significant portion of Ukraine’s population loss, with victims of the Russian war another contributing factor.

“It’s hard to have exact numbers, but estimates range around tens of thousands of victims,” ​​Bauer said.

Ukraine’s population was 37.441 million as of January 1, 2024, but further declines are expected in the coming years. A UN forecast in July predicted the population could drop to 15.3 million people by 2100.

Ukraine and UNFPA have partnered to develop a national population strategy, Bauer said. The strategy focuses on human capital rather than simply trying to increase the birth rate.

The path to population stability also depends on the end of the war, Bauer acknowledged.

Russia is facing its own demographic crisis, with a projected decline of about 7 million over the next two decades.

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