Last year was an extremely disturbing one: Zholnovych announces the growth rate of Ukrainians
Kyiv • UNN
In 2022, Ukraine's population growth rate was an alarming 0.9. There were 187,000 reported newborns and a high premature mortality rate, exacerbated by the war and the massive emigration of up to 7 million citizens.
Last year was extremely disturbing because the growth rate of Ukrainians was 0.9. This is an extremely low rate. In total, there are about 35 million Ukrainians, which is 20 million less than in 1991. This was reported by the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Oksana Zholnovych during the forum "Demographic Future of Ukraine: Strategy of Sustainability and Recovery," UNN reports .
The population of Ukraine is getting smaller. Today, there are about 35 million of us, which is 20 million less than there were in 1991, at the beginning of our independence
She noted that demographic challenges are not conducive to the recovery of Ukrainians, including the main challenges, according to Zholnovych:
Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine;
Rapid population decline;
Critically low birth rate;
High rate of premature mortality;
Mass emigration and internal resettlement;
Growth in the number of people with disabilities.
Last year was extremely disturbing because our growth rate of 0.9 is extremely low. It is now lower than in many European countries. Even than Poland, the EU, France. We are on a par with Hong Kong. And this is really alarming. It is also alarming that in 2023, only 187 thousand new Ukrainians were born.
According to her, there are also problems with active longevity, as the mortality rate of Ukrainians is also extremely high.
Male mortality is extremely high, and not only because of the war, but also because of a huge number of cultural characteristics and risky behavior
She also noted that, according to various estimates, up to 7 million Ukrainian citizens have moved abroad.
More than 4 million Ukrainians now live in the EU. We realize from various surveys that, unfortunately, the willingness of our citizens to return is decreasing every year. Is it possible to change this situation? I think so, because we have already recovered many times from such complex catastrophes: the Holodomor, repression, evictions, totalitarianism
Zholnovych names Ukraine's demographic goals:
Creating conditions for increasing the birth rate and supporting families-;
Reducing premature mortality;
Migration growth of the population;
Adapting to demographic aging and creating conditions for active longevity.
