“There is a very low birth rate in Ukraine,” demographer Hladun said

Ukraine is experiencing a “very low” birth rate, with about 90 children being born per 100 women.

This was stated to Telegraph by demographer Oleksandr Hladun, deputy director of the Institute of Demography and Quality of Life Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

According to him, for population replacement, 100 women of reproductive age need to give birth to a total of 210–220 children, with an adjustment for child mortality. However, in Ukraine the figure is far below that threshold.

“In Ukraine, in 2021, considering that it was a COVID year, 100 women gave birth to 116 children. That is, twice less than necessary. According to our expert estimates as of today — and we still do not have exact data, because calculating this indicator requires birth statistics broken down by the mother’s age — the figure is apparently close to 90 children per 100 women. This is a very low level,” he said.

In March, the head of Ukraine’s migration policy office, Vasyl Voskoboinyk, said that Ukraine is losing about 300,000 people, which points to a serious demographic crisis in the country.

Also in April, Voskoboinyk noted that in order to preserve its population size, Ukraine needs to attract migrants from abroad. In the same month, Visual Capitalist, based on International Monetary Fund data, reported that Ukraine’s population had shrunk faster than that of any other country in the world over the past 25 years.

In January 2026, Ukraine’s Minister of Social Policy, Denys Uliutin, said that the country is in a severe demographic crisis, and that the ratio of workers to pensioners has approached 1:1.