Ukraine registered 273,772 births in 2021. Last year it was 168,778. That’s a 38.4% collapse in four years. The first half of 2026 was worse, with births down another 16% from the same period a year earlier.
There are now roughly 12,000 babies born in Ukraine each month. Ten years ago it was around 32,000. In the first six months of 2026, authorities recorded 259,853 deaths against 73,292 births.
And the people who would be starting families are leaving. Nearly six million Ukrainians were living abroad by the end of 2025, many of them women and children. Couples are separated, homes have been destroyed, and having a child is a decision many families are putting off. Some Ukrainian babies are being born in other countries, so the registration figures don’t capture the entire picture. Still, the decline inside Ukraine is unmistakable.
Ukraine was losing population long before Russia invaded. The war has accelerated that decline, and the consequences will outlast the fighting. The country will need people to rebuild its economy, staff its hospitals and support its pension system. It is already dealing with labor shortages, and the next generation is getting smaller before it even has a chance to enter the workforce.
https://ukrmedia.news/en/analitika/narodzhuvanist-ukraina-demohrafichna-kryza-2026/
https://opendatabot.ua/en/analytics/birth-death-2026
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