The number of people in Ukraine who consider Ukrainian their native language is decreasing

In Ukraine, the number of people who consider Ukrainian their native language has decreased.

This was reported by the Language Ombudsman, Taras Kremin, on his official website, where he shared corresponding statistics among participants in the education system.

“Unfortunately, signs of a slowdown in Ukrainization have begun to emerge this year,” Kremin noted.

According to him, one of the key indicators of this trend is a reduction in the percentage of participants in the education system who consider Ukrainian their native language. Among students, this percentage has dropped by 17%, among parents of schoolchildren by 11%, and among teachers by 8%.

The ombudsman also reported a decline in the use of Ukrainian, not only in educational settings but also in online spaces. The use of Russian on social media platforms has increased.

“Notably, only 37% of students communicate with friends in Ukrainian, and 39% use it at home. Additionally, the number of students who prefer Ukrainian online has decreased by 10%,” the language ombudsman shared.

As reported by media outlets, there is also a sharp decline in the number of young Ukrainian speakers or those learning the language. For instance, 300,000 schoolchildren left Ukraine ahead of the 2024/2025 school year.

Last year, schools in the self-proclaimed “DNR” (Donetsk People’s Republic) completely stopped teaching Ukrainian, as no one chose it as an elective subject.