Demographics of Ukraine

Demographics of {{{place}}}
Population of Ukraine (in millions) from 1950-2019.
Population	42,386,403 (1 January 2018: excluding Crimea and Sevastopol)
Growth rate	−8.4 people/1,000 population (2015)
Birth rate	10.3 births/1,000 population (2016)
Death rate	14.7 deaths/1,000 population (2016)
Life expectancy	71.68 years (2016)
• male	66.73 years
• female	76.46 years
Fertility rate	1.47 children born/woman (2016)
Infant mortality rate	7.4 deaths/1,000 infants (2016)
Net migration rate	−5.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015)
Age structure
0–14 years	15.4%
15–64 years	68.4%
65 and over	16.2% (2017)
Sex ratio
At birth	1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.06 male(s)/female
15–64 years	0.92 male(s)/female
65 and over	0.51 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	noun: Ukrainian(s) adjective: Ukrainian
Major ethnic	Ukrainians (85.9%) 2015
Minor ethnic	Russians (8.1%) 2015
Language
Official	Ukrainian
Spoken	Ukrainian, Russian, others

The demographics of Ukraine include statistics on population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population of Ukraine.

The data in this article are based on the 2001 Ukrainian census which is the most recent, the CIA World Factbook, and the State Statistics Committee of Ukraine. The next census is scheduled to take place in 2020.

The total population of 42,386,403 depicted here excludes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol which were annexed by Russia in 2014. (The total population including those territories is 44,727,181)

Historical data

Main article: Censuses in Ukraine

See also: Polish census of 1931, First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union, Soviet Census (1937), Soviet Census (1989), and Ukrainian Census (2001)

There were roughly four million Ukrainians at the end of the 17th century. The majority of the historical information is sourced from Demoscope.ru. Please note that territory of modern Ukraine at the times listed above varied greatly. The western regions of Ukraine, west of Zbruch river, until 1939 for most of time were part of the Kingdom of Galicia and later the Polish Republic. The detailed information for those territories is missing, for more information see Demographics of Poland. The Crimean peninsula changed hands as well, in 1897 it was a part of the Taurida Governorate, but after the October Revolution became part of the Russian SFSR, and later was turned under the administration of the Ukrainian SSR.

The territory of Budjak (southern Bessarabia) became a part of the Ukrainian SSR in June 1940. The censuses of 1926 through 1989 were taken in the Ukrainian SSR. The census of 1897 is taken with the correspondence to nine gubernias that included in the territory of today's Ukraine. The statistics of 1906 records are taken from www.statoids.com which provides a broad degree of historical explanation on the situation in the Imperial Russia. The census statistics of 1931 was estimated by the professor Zenon Kuzela (1882–1952) from Berlin. His calculations are as of 1 January 1931. This ethnographer is mentioned in the encyclopedia of Ukraine as one of the sources only available due to lack of the official census.

The 2001 census was the first official census of the independent republic of Ukraine. Its data is given as on 1 January. The 2003–2009 stats were taken from the official website of Ukrstat and represent the data as of February of each year for the real population.

Famines and migration

The famines of the 1930s, followed by the devastation of World War II, created a demographic disaster. Life expectancy at birth fell to a level as low as ten years for females and seven for males in 1933 and plateaued around 25 for females and 15 for males in the period 1941–44. According to The Oxford companion to World War II, "Over 7 million inhabitants of Ukraine, more than one-sixth of the pre-war population, were killed during the Second World War."

Significant migration took place in the first years of Ukrainian independence. More than one million people moved into Ukraine in 1991–92, mostly from the other former Soviet republics. In total, between 1991 and 2004, 2.2 million immigrated to Ukraine (among them, 2 million came from the other former Soviet Union states), and 2.5 million emigrated from Ukraine (among them, 1.9 million moved to other former Soviet Union republics). As of 2015, immigrants constituted an estimated 11.4% of the total population, or 4.8 million people. In 2006, there were an estimated 1.2 million Canadians of Ukrainian ancestry, giving Canada the world's third-largest Ukrainian population behind Ukraine itself and Russia. There are also large Ukrainian immigrant communities in the United States, Poland, Australia, Brazil and Argentina.

Since about 2015 there has been a growing number of Ukrainians working in the European Union, particularly Poland. Eurostat reported that 662,000 Ukrainians received EU residence permits in 2017, with 585,439 being to Poland. World Bank statistics show that money remittances back to Ukraine have roughly doubled from 2015 to 2018, worth about 4% of GDP. However this emigration is not represented in Ukrainian migration data, measuring registrations at the State Migration Service which is usually only done by Ukrainians obtaining foreign citizenship. It is unclear if those moving to work in the EU intend this to be temporary of permanent.

Population decline

Population of Ukraine from 1950 to 2019

Ukraine's population (excluding Crimea) in 2017 was estimated at 42,418,235. The country's population has been declining since the 1990s because of a high emigration rate, coupled with high death rates and low birth rates. The population has been shrinking by over 150,000 annually since 1993. The birth rate has recovered in recent years from a low level around 2000, and is now comparable to the European average. It would need to increase by another 50% or so to stabilize the population and offset the high mortality rate.

In 2007, the country's rate of population decline was the fourth highest in the world.

Life expectancy is falling, and Ukraine suffers a high mortality rate from environmental pollution, poor diets, widespread smoking, extensive alcoholism and deteriorating medical care.

During the years 2008 to 2010, more than 1.5 million children were born in Ukraine, compared to fewer than 1.2 million during 1999–2001. In 2008 Ukraine posted record-breaking birth rates since its 1991 independence. Infant mortality rates have also dropped from 10.4 deaths to 8.3 per 1,000 children under one year of age. This is lower than in 153 countries of the world.

Fertility and natalist policies

Population pyramid of Ukraine in 2017

The current birth rate in Ukraine, as of 2010, is 10.8 births/1,000 population, and the death rate is 15.2 deaths/1,000 population (see Ukraine demographic tables).

The phenomenon of lowest-low fertility, defined as total fertility below 1.3, is emerging throughout Europe and is attributed by many to postponement of the initiation of childbearing. Ukraine, where total fertility (a very low 1.1 in 2001), was one of the world's lowest, shows that there is more than one pathway to lowest-low fertility. Although Ukraine has undergone immense political and economic transformations during 1991–2004, it has maintained a young age at first birth and nearly universal childbearing. Analysis of official national statistics and the Ukrainian Reproductive Health Survey show that fertility declined to very low levels without a transition to a later pattern of childbearing. Findings from focus group interviews suggest explanations of the early fertility pattern. These findings include the persistence of traditional norms for childbearing and the roles of men and women, concerns about medical complications and infertility at a later age, and the link between early fertility and early marriage. Ukraine subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with the average age of 40.8 years.

To help mitigate the declining population, the government continues to increase child support payments. Thus it provides one-time payments of 12,250 hryvnias for the first child, 25,000 Hryvnias for the second and 50,000 Hryvnias for the third and fourth, along with monthly payments of 154 hryvnias per child. The demographic trend is showing signs of improvement, as the birth rate has been steadily growing since 2001. Net population growth over the first nine months of 2007 was registered in five provinces of the country (out of 24), and population shrinkage was showing signs of stabilising nationwide. In 2007 the highest birth rates were in the western oblasts. In 2008, Ukraine emerged from lowest-low fertility, and the upward trend has continued to 2012. In 2014 the strong decline in births was re-established, with 2018 having fewer than half the number of births as in 1989.(see demographic tables)

Vital statistics

Ukrainian provinces of the Russian Empire

The figures below refer to the nine governorates of the Russian Empire (Volhynia, Yekaterinoslav, Kiev, Podolia, Poltava, Taurida, Kharkov, Kherson and Chernigov) with a Ukrainian majority.

	Average population (thousands)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1,000)	Crude death rate (per 1,000)	Natural change (per 1,000)	Total fertility rates
1900	24,969	1,203,334	660,723	542,611	48.2	26.5	21.7
1901	25,505	1,123,519	657,883	465,636	44.1	25.8	18.3
1902	25,935	1,207,512	681,580	525,932	46.6	26.3	20.3
1903	26,449	1,188,404	663,067	525,337	44.9	25.1	19.9
1904	26,961	1,228,116	682,068	546,048	45.6	25.3	20.3
1905	27,210	1,160,308	779,107	381,201	41.1	27.6	13.5
1906	27,949	1,225,951	724,045	501,906	43.9	25.9	18.0
1907	28,418	1,279,027	701,451	577,576	45.0	24.7	20.3
1908	29,069	1,232,862	692,624	540,238	42.4	23.8	18.6
1909	29,700	1,226,155	744,818	481,337	41.3	25.1	16.2
1910	30,297	1,225,658	839,491	386,167	40.5	27.7	12.7
1911	30,858	1,240,985	670,742	570,243	40.2	21.7	18.5
1912	30,580	1,245,358	654,157	591,201	40.7	21.4	19.3
1913	31,142	1,222,277	715,924	506,353	39.2	23.0	16.3	6.00
1914	30,973	1,240,114	716,875	523,239	40.0	23.1	16.9

Between WWI and WWII

	Average population (thousands)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1,000)	Crude death rate (per 1,000)	Natural change (per 1,000)	Fertility rates
1924	27,400	1,150,577	484,880	665,697	42.0	17.7	24.3
1925	28,000	1,185,028	531,819	653,209	42.3	19.0	23.3	5.39
1926	28,700	1,207,907	518,656	689,251	42.1	18.1	24.0
1927	29,589	1,184,400	522,600	661,700	40.0	17.7	22.4
1928	30,251	1,139,300	495,700	643,600	37.7	16.4	21.3
1929	30,894	1,081,000	538,700	542,300	35.0	17.4	17.6
1930	31,436	1,023,000	578,100	484,900	32.5	18.4	14.2
1931	31,882	975,300	514,700	460,600	30.6	16.1	14.4
1932	32,342	782,000	668,200	113,800	24.2	20.7	3.5
1933	32,456	564,000	2,104,000	-1,540,000	17.4	64.8	-47.4
1934	30,916	551,500	462,000	89,500	17.8	14.9	2.9
1935	31,006	759,100	341,900	417,200	24.5	11.0	13.5
1936	31,423	893,100	359,500	533,500	28.4	11.4	17.0
1937	31,957	1,214,000	428,400	785,600	38.0	13.4	24.6
1938	32,742	1,113,500	430,800	682,600	34.0	13.2	20.9
1939	33,425	1,073,500	412,600	660,900	32.1	12.3	19.8
1940 (b)	40,649	1,100,000			27.3			3.80

(a) Information is given for Ukraine's territory within its old boundaries up to 17 September 1939 (b) Information is given for Ukraine's territory within its present-day boundaries, after the annexation of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia in September 1939

After WW II

	Average population (thousands)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1,000)	Crude death rate (per 1,000)	Natural change (per 1,000)	Fertility rates	Urban fertility	Rural fertility	Abortions, reported
1946		753,493
1947		712,994
1948		757,783
1949		911,641
1950	36,905	844,585	315,300	529,300	22.9	8.5	14.3	2.81
1951	37,569	858,052	327,500	530,600	22.8	8.7	14.1
1952	38,141	846,434	325,700	520,700	22.2	8.5	13.7
1953	38,678	795,652	326,800	468,900	20.6	8.4	12.1
1954	39,131	845,128	318,500	526,600	21.6	8.1	13.5
1955	39,506	792,696	296,200	496,500	20.1	7.5	12.6	2.70
1956	40,082	822,569	293,000	529,600	20.5	7.3	13.2
1957	40,800	847,781	304,800	543,000	20.8	7.5	13.3
1958	41,512	873,483	286,700	586,800	21.0	6.9	14.1	2.30
1959	42,155	880,552	316,800	563,800	20.9	7.5	13.4	2.29
1960	42,469	878,768	296,171	582,597	20.7	7.0	13.7	2.24
1961	43,097	843,482	304,346	539,136	19.6	7.1	12.5	2.17
1962	43,559	823,151	331,454	491,697	18.9	7.6	11.3	2.14
1963	44,088	794,969	323,556	471,413	17.9	7.3	10.6	2.06
1964	44,664	741,668	315,340	426,328	16.5	7.0	9.5	1.96
1965	45,133	692,153	342,717	349,436	15.3	7.6	7.7	1.99
1966	45,548	713,492	344,850	368,642	15.6	7.5	8.1	2.02
1967	45,997	699,381	368,573	330,808	15.1	8.0	7.2	2.01
1968	46,408	693,064	374,440	318,624	14.9	8.0	6.8	1.99
1969	46,778	687,991	404,151	283,840	14.7	8.6	6.0	2.04
1970	47,127	719,213	418,679	300,534	15.2	8.9	6.4	2.10			1,130,315
1971	47,507	736,691	424,717	311,974	15.4	8.9	6.5	2.12
1972	47,903	745,696	443,038	302,658	15.5	9.2	6.3	2.08
1973	48,274	719,560	449,351	270,209	14.9	9.3	5.6	2.04
1974	48,571	736,616	455,970	280,646	15.1	9.4	5.8	2.04
1975	48,881	738,857	489,550	249,307	15.1	10.0	5.1	2.02			1,110,223
1976	49,151	747,069	500,584	246,485	15.2	10.2	5.0	1.99
1977	49,388	726,217	517,967	208,250	14.7	10.5	4.2	1.94
1978	49,578	732,187	529,681	202,506	14.7	10.7	4.1	1.96
1979	49,755	735,188	552,019	183,169	14.7	11.1	3.7	1.96
1980	50,044	742,489	568,243	174,246	14.8	11.4	3.5	1.95			1,197,000
1981	50,222	733,183	568,789	164,394	14.6	11.3	3.3	1.93			1,112,734
1982	50,388	745,591	568,231	177,360	14.8	11.3	3.5	1.94			1,131,437
1983	50,573	807,111	583,496	223,615	16.0	11.6	4.4	2.11			1,125,686
1984	50,768	792,035	610,338	181,697	15.6	12.0	3.6	2.08			1,127,627
1985	50,941	762,775	617,548	145,227	15.0	12.1	2.9	2.02			1,179,000
1986	51,143	792,574	565,150	227,424	15.5	11.1	4.4	2.13			1,166,039
1987	51,373	760,851	586,387	174,464	14.8	11.4	3.4	2.07			1,168,136
1988	51,593	744,056	600,725	143,331	14.4	11.6	2.8	2.04			1,080,029
1989	51,770	690,981	600,590	90,391	13.3	11.6	1.7	1.92	1.78	2.33	1,058,414
1990	51,838	657,202	629,602	27,600	12.7	12.1	0.6	1.84	1.69	2.27	1,019,038
1991	51,944	630,813	669,960	−39,147	12.1	12.9	−0.8	1.77	1.61	2.33	957,022
1992	52,056	596,785	697,110	−100,325	11.4	13.4	−2.0	1.67	1.48	2.19	932,272
1993	52,244	557,467	741,662	−184,195	10.7	14.2	−3.5	1.56	1.37	2.07	860,996
1994	52,114	521,545	764,669	−243,124	10.0	14.7	−4.7	1.47	1.28	1.97	798,538
1995	51,728	492,861	792,587	−299,726	9.6	15.4	−5.8	1.40	1.22	1.86	740,172
1996	51,297	467,211	776,717	−309,506	9.2	15.2	−6.1	1.33	1.16	1.77	687,035
1997	50,818	442,581	754,151	−311,570	8.7	14.9	−6.2	1.27	1.11	1.68	596,740
1998	50,370	419,238	719,954	−300,716	8.4	14.4	−6.0	1.20	1.04	1.62	525,329
1999	49,918	389,208	739,170	−349,962	7.8	14.9	−7.0	1.12	0.97	1.51	495,760
2000	49,429	385,126	758,082	−372,956	7.8	15.4	−7.6	1.11	0.96	1.49	434,223
2001	48,923	376,479	745,953	−369,474	7.7	15.3	−7.6	1.085	0.96	1.41	369,750
2002	48,457	390,687	754,911	−364,224	8.1	15.7	−7.6	1.12	1.03	1.47	345,967
2003	48,003	408,591	765,408	−356,817	8.5	16.0	−7.5	1.17	1.09	1.48	315,835
2004	47,622	427,259	761,263	−334,004	9.0	16.0	−7.0	1.21	1.12	1.53	289,065
2005	47,280	426,085	781,964	−355,879	9.0	16.6	−7.6	1.21	1.16	1.48	263,950
2006	46,929	460,368	758,093	−297,725	9.8	16.2	−6.4	1.31	1.21	1.61	229,618
2007	46,646	472,657	762,877	−290,220	10.2	16.4	−6.2	1.34	1.28	1.69	210,454
2008	46,372	510,588	754,462	−243,874	11.0	16.3	−5.3	1.46	1.31	1.72	201,087
2009	46,143	512,526	706,740	−194,214	11.1	15.3	−4.2	1.46	1.33	1.77	194,845
2010	45,962	497,689	698,235	−200,546	10.8	15.2	−4.4	1.44	1.31	1.78	176,774
2011	45,778	502,595	664,588	−161,993	11.0	14.5	−3.5	1.46	1.32	1.80	156,193
2012	45,633	520,704	663,139	−142,435	11.4	14.5	−3.1	1.53	1.39	1.87	141,396
2013	45,553	503,656	662,368	−158,712	11.1	14.6	−3.5	1.51	1.37	1.83
2014	43,001	465,882	632,296	−166,414	10.8	14.7	−3.9	1.50	1.35	1.83
2015	42,844	411,783	594,795	−183,012	9.6	13.9	−4.3	1.51	1.39	1.71
2016	42,672	397,039	583,631	−186,592	9.3	13.6	−4.3	1.47	1.36	1.64
2017	42,386	363,987	574,123	−210,136	8.6	13.5	−5.0	1.37	1.28	1.52
2018	42,153.201	335,874	587,665	–251,791	8.0	14.0	–6.0

(e) estimate

	Urban live births	Urban deaths	Urban natural change	Urban crude birth rate (per 1,000)	Urban crude death rate (per 1,000)	Urban natural change (per 1,000)	Rural live births	Rural deaths	Rural natural change	Rural crude birth rate (per 1,000)	Rural crude death rate (per 1,000)	Rural natural change (per 1,000)
1990	442,869	357,114	85,755	12.7	10.2	2.5	214,333	272,488	−58,155	12.7	16.1	−3.4
1991	419,205	380,988	38,917	11.9	10.8	1.1	211,608	288,972	−77,364	12.6	17.2	−4.6
1992	387,696	401,849	−14,153	11.0	11.4	−0.4	209,089	295,261	−86,172	12.5	17.6	−5.1
1993	356,833	432,462	−75,629	10.1	12.2	−2.1	200,634	309,200	−108,566	12.0	18.5	−6.5
1994	328,522	450,823	−122,301	9.3	12.8	−3.5	193,023	313,846	−120,823	11.6	18.8	−7.2
1995	308,408	476,434	−168,026	8.8	13.6	−4.8	184,453	316,153	−131,700	11.1	19.1	−8.0
1996	291,121	460,805	−169,684	8.4	13.3	−4.9	176,090	315,912	−139,822	10.7	19.2	−8.5
1997	274,961	444,446	−169,485	8.0	13.0	−5.0	167,620	309,705	−142,805	10.2	18.9	−8.7
1998	258,724	425,521	−166,797	7.6	12.6	−5.0	160,514	294,433	−133,919	9.9	18.1	−8.2
1999	239,408	439,986	−200,578	7.1	13.1	−6.0	149,800	299,184	−149,384	9.3	18.5	−9.2
2000	238,014	457,069	−219,055	7.2	13.8	−6.6	147,112	301,013	−153,901	9.2	18.8	−9.6
2001	237,228	450,329	−213,101	7.2	13.8	−6.6	139,250	295,623	−156,373	8.7	18.6	−9.9
2002	248,877	454,406	−205,529	7.7	14.0	−6.3	141,811	300,505	−158,694	9.0	19.1	−10.1
2003	266,415	459,965	−193,550	8.3	14.3	−6.0	142,174	305,443	−163,269	9.1	19.6	−10.5
2004	284,361	460,492	−176,131	8.9	14.4	−5.5	142,898	300,769	−157,871	9.3	19.6	−10.3
2005	284,257	471,561	−187,304	8.9	14.8	−5.9	141,829	310,400	−168,571	9.4	20.5	−11.1
2006	306,635	461,774	−155,139	9.6	14.5	−4.9	153,733	296,318	−142,585	10.3	19.8	−9.5
2007	314,065	466,253	−152,188	9.9	14.7	−4.8	158,592	296,624	−138,032	10.7	20.1	−9.4
2008	340,594	462,897	−122,303	10.8	14.6	−3.8	169,995	291,563	−121,568	11.6	19.9	−8.3
2009	339,497	432,294	−92,797	10.8	13.7	−2.9	173,028	274,445	−101,417	11.9	18.9	−7.0
2010	326,587	431,130	−104,543	10.4	13.7	−3.3	171,102	267,105	−96,003	11.9	18.6	−6.7
2011	328,934	411,025	−82,091	10.5	13.1	−2.3	173,661	253,563	−79,902	12.1	17.7	−5.6
2012	341,599	411,787	−70,788	10.9	13.1	−2.2	179,106	251,352	−72,246	12.6	17.7	−5.1
2013	330,284	412,552	−82,268	10.5	13.1	−2.6	173,372	249,816	−76,444	12.3	17.7	−5.4
2014	304,190	391,739	−87,549	10.2	13.2	−3.0	161,692	240,557	−78,865	12.2	18.1	−5.9
2015	266,082	358,749	−92,667	10.4	13.2	−2.8	145,699	236,047	−90,348	11.3	18.0	−6.7
2016	258,688	354,634	−95,946	10.0	13.2	−3.2	138,349	228,997	−90,648	10.8	17.6	−6.8

Note: Data excludes Crimea starting in 2014.

The natural population growth of Ukraine since 1950.

  Birth rate

  Death rate

  Natural growth rate

Current vital statistics

• Number of births for January-March 2019 = 76,125
• Number of deaths for January-March 2019 = 159,264
• Natural increase from January-March 2019 = −83,139

Note: Starting 2014 territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol and part of the anti-terrorist operation zone are not included in Demographics of Ukraine. These territories are included to the Demographics of Russia. All data from State Statistics Service of Ukraine.

Life expectancy at birth

Life expectancy at birth in Ukraine by oblast in 2012

• total population: 71.37 years
• male: 66.34 years
• female: 76.22 years (2013 official)

Average life expectancy at age 0 of the total population.

Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	61.83
1955–1960	67.11
1960–1965	69.69
1965–1970	70.66
1970–1975	70.57
1975–1980	69.65
1980–1985	69.15
1985–1990	70.55
1990–1995	68.72
1995–2000	67.36
2000–2005	67.46
2005–2010	67.89
2010–2015	71.12

Total fertility rate

• 6.00 children born/woman (1913 est.)
• 5.39 children born/woman (1925 est.)
• 1.08 children born/woman (2001)
• 1.46 children born/woman (2011)
• 1.53 children born/woman (2012)
• 1.51 children born/woman (2013)

In 2001 Ukraine recorded the lowest fertility rate ever recorded in Europe for an independent country: 1.08 child/woman. During this year the number of children born was less than half of that born in 1987. Lower rates were recorded only in former East Germany, which registered 0.77 child/woman in 1994, as well as Taiwan (from 2008 to 2010), and both Hong Kong and Macau (from about 2000 to 2010). After neglect by the Kuchma administration, both the Yushchenko and the Yanukovych governments have made increasing the birth rate a priority.

Demographic statistics

Birth data by oblast

Note: Recent data for Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts has been affected by the War in Donbass, and may only include births within the government-held parts of the oblasts.

Number of births by oblast for January–November	Birth/2016	Birth/2015	Death/2016	Death/2015
Kyiv City	33416	32382	27772	27767
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	28473	30620	47934	49258
Lviv Oblast	25708	25007	29247	30010
Odessa Oblast	24246	25182	30479	31512
Kharkiv Oblast	21992	22864	38502	38965
Donetsk Oblast	17772	15608	33464	36883
Kiev Oblast	17559	18485	25623	26046
Zakarpattia Oblast	14862	15525	13880	14164
Rivne Oblast	14454	14809	13261	13426
Zaporizhia Oblast	14430	15140	25533	25657
Vinnytsia Oblast	14153	15126	22521	23237
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	13547	14412	15616	16144
Volyn Oblast	12047	12307	12311	12602
Zhytomyr Oblast	11958	12526	18301	19085
Khmelnytskyi Oblast	11793	12768	18097	18702
Poltava Oblast	11503	12381	22084	22440
Mykolaiv Oblast	9904	10626	15834	16316
Kherson Oblast	9877	10476	14891	15055
Cherkasy Oblast	9721	10560	18437	18315
Chernivtsi Oblast	9461	9851	10399	10738
Ternopil Oblast	9177	9912	13584	13962
Kirovohrad Oblast	8189	8662	14810	14809
Sumy Oblast	8169	8959	16982	17322
Chernihiv Oblast	7816	8359	17515	18199
Luhansk Oblast	5960	4978	12689	13401

Number of births by oblast	Birth/2014	Birth/2013	Birth/2012	Birth/2011	Death/2014	Death/2013	Death/2012	Death/2011
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	36497	36134	37087	36116	52722	51134	51486	52106
Donetsk Oblast	35595	41034	42839	41720	71799	69345	70496	71042
Kyiv City	34821	33305	33887	32068	29992	28003	27840	27050
Lviv Oblast	30270	29542	30220	28904	32450	31666	31667	31162
Odessa Oblast	29465	29075	30384	29225	34155	33523	33648	33688
Kharkiv Oblast	27690	26700	27244	26317	41891	39465	40130	40079
Kiev Oblast	20900	20511	20966	20083	28264	27198	27161	26847
Zaporizhia Oblast	18713	18134	18882	18198	27773	26498	26406	27033
Zakarpattia Oblast	18377	18490	18968	18460	14808	14801	14813	14588
Vinnytsia Oblast	17547	17437	18339	17894	25567	25453	25158	25376
Rivne Oblast	17169	17445	18316	17697	14714	14556	14302	14168
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	16886	16716	17101	16497	17670	17358	16801	16657
Zhytomyr Oblast	15115	15001	15486	15154	21185	20859	20685	20417
Volyn Oblast	14668	14700	15346	14620	13748	13666	13710	13842
Khmelnytskyi Oblast	14631	14548	14881	14492	20408	20581	20362	20116
Poltava Oblast	14504	14296	14635	14167	24784	24358	24223	24384
Mykolaiv Oblast	13076	13043	13515	13029	17750	17353	17277	17441
Cherkasy Oblast	12351	12100	12798	12473	20800	20477	20667	20848
Kherson Oblast	12308	12300	12643	12085	16141	16048	15904	15828
Ternopil Oblast	11717	11807	12202	11964	15180	14682	14838	14829
Chernivtsi Oblast	11679	11465	11592	11281	11619	11520	11321	11192
Luhansk Oblast	11442	20531	21743	21320	22755	35822	36316	37256
Kirovohrad Oblast	10576	10562	11029	10578	16716	16513	16521	16697
Sumy Oblast	10344	10411	11093	10473	19452	19219	19002	18833
Chernihiv Oblast	9552	9852	10222	10134	20324	19909	20208	20179

Birth rate by oblast	Birth/2014	Birth/2013	Birth/2012	Birth/2011	Death/2014	Death/2013	Death/2012	Death/2011
Rivne Oblast	14.8	15.1	15.9	15.3	12.7	12.6	12.4	12.3
Zakarpattia Oblast	14.6	14.7	15.1	14.8	11.8	11.8	11.8	11.7
Volyn Oblast	14.1	14.1	14.8	14.1	13.2	13.1	13.2	13.3
Chernivtsi Oblast	12.9	12.6	12.8	12.5	12.8	12.7	12.5	12.4
Odessa Oblast	12.3	12.1	12.7	12.2	14.3	14.0	14.1	14.1
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	12.2	12.1	12.4	12.0	12.8	12.6	12.2	12.1
Kiev Oblast	12.1	11.9	12.2	11.7	16.4	15.8	15.8	15.6
Kyiv City	12.1	11.7	12.0	11.4	10.4	9.8	9.8	9.6
Zhytomyr Oblast	12.0	11.9	12.2	11.9	16.8	16.5	16.3	16.0
Lviv Oblast	11.9	11.6	11.9	11.4	12.8	12.4	12.5	12.3
Kherson Oblast	11.5	11.4	11.7	11.1	15.1	14.9	14.7	14.6
Mykolaiv Oblast	11.2	11.1	11.5	11.0	15.2	14.8	14.7	14.8
Khmelnytskyi Oblast	11.2	11.1	11.3	11.0	15.6	15.7	15.5	15.2
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	11.1	11.0	11.2	10.9	16.0	15.5	15.5	15.7
Vinnytsia Oblast	10.9	10.8	11.2	10.9	15.9	15.7	15.4	15.5
Ternopil Oblast	10.9	11.0	11.3	11.1	14.2	13.7	13.8	13.7
Kirovohrad Oblast	10.8	10.7	11.0	10.5	17.0	16.7	16.5	16.6
Zaporizhia Oblast	10.6	10.2	10.6	10.1	15.7	14.9	14.8	15.0
Kharkiv Oblast	10.1	9.8	9.9	9.6	15.3	14.4	14.6	14.6
Poltava Oblast	10.0	9.8	9.9	9.5	17.1	16.7	16.5	16.4
Cherkasy Oblast	9.8	9.6	10.1	9.8	16.5	16.2	16.2	16.3
Sumy Oblast	9.2	9.2	9.7	9.1	17.2	16.9	16.6	16.3
Chernihiv Oblast	9.0	9.2	9.4	9.3	19.2	18.6	18.7	18.5
Donetsk Oblast	8.2	9.4	9.8	9.5	16.6	15.9	16.1	16.1
Luhansk Oblast	5.1	9.1	9.6	9.3	10.2	15.9	16.0	16.3

Year in review 2013

Compared to 2012, amount of attrition increased by 16,278 persons, or 3.1 to 3.5 persons per 1,000 inhabitants real. Natural decrease was observed in 23 oblasts of the country, while natural increases were recorded only in the capital Kiev, Zakarpattya, Rivne and Volyn oblast (respectively 5,302, 3,689, 2,889 and 1,034 people).

Some regions registered a low natural decline, such as Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Sevastopol, Lviv, Ternopil, Crimea, Kherson and Odessa (respectively, −55, −642, −863, −2,124, −2,875, −2,974, −3,748 and −4,448 people). The largest declines were recorded in Donetsk, Luhansk, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Poltava and Chernihiv (respectively −28,311, −15,291, −15,007, −12,765, −10,062 and −10,057), regions which have in common a low birth rate and high mortality of a large urban population and a strong rural population aging.

Net migration rate

−5.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2015).

Infant mortality rate

• 9.1 deaths/1,000 infants live births for 4,564 deaths. (2010)
• 9.0 deaths/1,000 infants live births for 4,511 deaths. (2011)
• 8.4 deaths/1,000 infants live births for 4,371 deaths. (2012)
• 8.0 deaths/1,000 infants live births for 4,030 deaths. (2013)
• 8.9 deaths/1,000 infants live births for 2,193 death for January–June 2011
• 8.6 deaths/1,000 infants live births for 2,190 death for January–June 2012
• 7.8 deaths/1,000 infants live births for 1,993 deaths for January–June 2013

Infant mortality by oblast	Death/2012	Death/2011	Death/2010	Death/2009
Donetsk Oblast	540	473	497	533
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	370	343	347	329
Odessa Oblast	267	268	263	280
Kyiv City	262	255	233	244
Lviv Oblast	233	272	266	238
Kharkiv Oblast	203	234	243	252
Zakarpattia Oblast	168	195	199	238
Vinnytsia Oblast	166	186	148	149
Luhansk Oblast	165	188	199	252
Zaporizhia Oblast	154	169	182	174
Rivne Oblast	147	156	158	164
Khmelnytskyi Oblast	134	89	109	174
Zhytomyr Oblast	124	134	135	127
Cherkasy Oblast	122	101	125	132
Kiev Oblast	119	143	140	146
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	109	145	170	157
Volyn Oblast	106	116	123	118
Kirovohrad Oblast	103	139	112	119
Kherson Oblast	100	120	116	136
Mykolaiv Oblast	97	97	104	112
Ternopil Oblast	97	96	98	93
Chernihiv Oblast	94	80	82	103
Chernivtsi Oblast	92	96	90	91
Poltava Oblast	85	86	87	105
Sumy Oblast	76	78	97	91

Infant mortality per 1,000 by Oblast	Death/2012	Death/2011	Death/2010	Death/2009
Donetsk Oblast	12.7	11.4	12.0	12.3
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	10.0	9.5	9.7	8.8
Cherkasy Oblast	9.6	8.1	10.0	10.5
Kirovohrad Oblast	9.4	13.2	10.6	10.9
Chernihiv Oblast	9.2	7.9	8.1	9.9
Vinnytsia Oblast	9.1	10.4	8.4	8.3
Khmelnytskyi Oblast	9.0	6.2	7.5	11.8
Zakarpattia Oblast	8.9	10.6	10.9	13.1
Odessa Oblast	8.8	9.2	9.2	9.7
Zaporizhia Oblast	8.2	9.3	10.1	9.4
Rivne Oblast	8.1	8.9	9.2	9.4
Kherson Oblast	8.0	9.9	9.4	11.0
Zhytomyr Oblast	8.0	8.9	9.1	8.5
Chernivtsi Oblast	8.0	8.5	8.2	8.2
Ternopil Oblast	8.0	8.0	8.2	7.5
Lviv Oblast	7.8	9.4	9.2	8.0
Kyiv City	7.8	8.0	7.3	7.5
Luhansk Oblast	7.6	8.8	9.4	11.6
Kharkiv Oblast	7.5	8.9	9.2	9.3
Mykolaiv Oblast	7.3	7.5	8.1	8.5
Volyn Oblast	7.0	7.9	8.2	7.7
Sumy Oblast	6.9	7.5	9.3	8.5
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	6.4	8.8	10.3	9.1
Poltava Oblast	5.8	6.1	6.1	7.1
Kiev Oblast	5.7	7.2	7.0	7.1

Total fertility rate by oblast

Fertility rate in Ukraine by oblast in 2011

Although none of the oblasts in 2013 has recorded a higher fertility rate 2.10 children per woman. However, the rate has been in rural areas in the Rivne Oblast (2.50) and the Volyn Oblast (2.20). While a very close generational renewal rate was achieved in the Odessa Oblast (2.04), Zakarpattia Oblast (2.00), Mykolaiv Oblast (1.95), Chernivtsi Oblast (1.93) and Zhytomyr Oblast (1.91) weaker when they have been recorded in the Luhansk oblast (1.41), Sumy oblast (1.47) and Cherkasy Oblast (1.53).

The fertility rate of the highest urban areas were recorded in the Zakarpattia Oblast (1.80), the city of Sevastopol (1.57), Volyn Oblast (1.56), Kiev Oblast (1.56) and the Rivne Oblast (1.54). The lowest rates were recorded in the Sumy Oblast (1.23), Kharkiv Oblast (1.26), Cherkasy Oblast (1.28), Chernihiv Oblast (1.28), Chernivtsi Oblast (1.28), Luhansk oblast (1.28), Poltava oblast (1.29), Donetsk oblast (1.29) and Zaporizhia Oblast (1.32).

Children born per woman by oblast	Total fertility rate/2013	Total fertility rate/2012	Total fertility rate/2011	Total fertility rate/2010
Rivne Oblast	2.00	2.08	1.99	1.93
Zakarpattia Oblast	1.93	1.95	1.90	1.83
Volyn Oblast	1.86	1.92	1.81	1.85
Zhytomyr Oblast	1.68	1.71	1.65	1.61
Odessa Oblast	1.65	1.71	1.62	1.58
Kiev Oblast	1.64	1.67	1.58	1.58
Chernivtsi Oblast	1.63	1.64	1.58	1.53
Khmelnytskyi Oblast	1.61	1.62	1.56	1.55
Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast	1.60	1.63	1.55	1.58
Kherson Oblast	1.60	1.61	1.51	1.51
Kirovohrad Oblast	1.57	1.61	1.51	1.50
Lviv Oblast	1.55	1.58	1.49	1.50
Mykolaiv Oblast	1.55	1.57	1.47	1.44
Vinnytsia Oblast	1.53	1.59	1.53	1.50
Ukraine	1.51	1.53	1.46	1.45
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast	1.51	1.52	1.44	1.43
Ternopil Oblast	1.48	1.50	1.45	1.46
Zaporizhia Oblast	1.43	1.46	1.37	1.34
Poltava Oblast	1.40	1.41	1.33	1.34
Cherkasy Oblast	1.38	1.43	1.37	1.36
Chernihiv Oblast	1.37	1.40	1.36	1.36
Kyiv City	1.36	1.38	1.29	1.30
Donetsk Oblast	1.32	1.34	1.27	1.26
Kharkiv Oblast	1.32	1.32	1.25	1.24
Sumy Oblast	1.30	1.36	1.25	1.23
Luhansk Oblast	1.30	1.33	1.27	1.23

Other demographics statistics

Population pyramid of Ukraine in 1897

Population pyramid of Ukraine in 1926

Population pyramid of Ukraine in 2017

Population change, 1970–2010

Population change, 1970–1979

Population change, 1989–2001

Population change, 1989–2012

Population change of urban settlements, 1970–1989

Population change of urban settlements, 1989–2010

The population of Ukraine has undergone a major crisis since the 1990s. This is mainly because of the high death rate and a very low birth rate. The country's population is shrinking by over 150,000 people every year. However, things have changed a little since the year 2000. The birth rate, which was previously very low, has risen recently.

The fertility rate, however, is fairly low: 1.29 children born/woman. The death rate of almost 15 deaths/1000 persons is higher than the birth rate, which is almost 9.59 births/1000 population.

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.

• One birth every 1 minutes
• One death every 48 seconds
• Net loss of one person every 2 minutes
• One net migrant every 30 minutes

Demographic statistics according to the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

43,952,299 (July 2018 est.)

44,033,874 (July 2017 est.)

45,426,249 (1 January 2013)

Age structure

0-14 years: 15.95% (male 3,609,386 /female 3,400,349)

15-24 years: 9.57% (male 2,156,338 /female 2,047,821)

25-54 years: 44.03% (male 9,522,108 /female 9,831,924)

55-64 years: 13.96% (male 2,638,173 /female 3,499,718)

65 years and over: 16.49% (male 2,433,718 /female 4,812,764) (2018 est.)

0-14 years: 15.76% (male 3,571,358/female 3,366,380)

15-24 years: 9.86% (male 2,226,142/female 2,114,853)

25-54 years: 44.29% (male 9,579,149/female 9,921,387)

55-64 years: 13.8% (male 2,605,849/female 3,469,246)

65 years and over: 16.3% (male 2,409,049/female 4,770,461) (2017 est.)

0–14 years: 15.1% = 6,449,171 (2015 official.)

15–64 years: 69.3% = 29,634,710

65 years and over: 15.6% = 6,675,780

0–14 years: 14.8% = 6,989,802

15–64 years: 69.2% = 32,603,475

65 years and over: 16.0% = 7,507,185 (2005 official.)

0–14 years: 21.6% = 11,101,469

15–64 years: 66.7% = 34,320,742

65 years and over: 11.7% = 6,022,934 (1989 official.)

Median age

total: 40.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 47th

male: 37.7 years

female: 43.9 years (2018 est.)

total: 40.6 years

male: 37.4 years

female: 43.7 years (2017 est.)

total: 39.8 years

male: 39.7 years

female: 40.1 years (2014 official)

total: 39.7 years

male: 39.5 years

female: 40.1 years (2013 official)

total: 34.8 years

male: 31.9 years

female: 37.7 years (1989 official)

Birth rate

10.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 190th

10.3 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate

14.3 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 6th

14.4 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.55 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 190th

1.54 children born/woman (2017 est.)

Net migration rate

4.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 29th

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

24.9 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate

0.04% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 187th

-0.41% (2017 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 72.4 years. Country comparison to the world: 148th

male: 67.7 years

female: 77.4 years (2018 est.)

Ethnic groups

Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 est.)

Languages

Ukrainian (official) 67.5%, Russian (regional language) 29.6%, other (includes small Crimean Tatar-, Moldovan/Romanian-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities) 2.9% (2001 est.)
Note: in February 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that 2012 language legislation entitling a language spoken by at least 10% of an oblast's population to be given the status of "regional language" - allowing for its use in courts, schools, and other government institutions - was unconstitutional, thus making the law invalid; Ukrainian remains the country's only official nationwide

Religions

Orthodox (includes Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox (UAOC), Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP)), Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish
Note: Ukraine's population is overwhelmingly Christian; the vast majority - up to two-thirds - identify themselves as Orthodox, but many do not specify a particular branch; the UOC-KP and the UOC-MP each represent less than a quarter of the country's population, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church accounts for 8-10%, and the UAOC accounts for 1-2%; Muslim and Jewish adherents each compose less than 1% of the total population (2013 est.)

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 44.8 (2015 est.)

youth dependency ratio: 21.8 (2015 est.)

elderly dependency ratio: 23 (2015 est.)

potential support ratio: 4.3 (2015 est.)

note: data include Crimea

Urbanization

urban population: 69.4% of total population (2018)

rate of urbanization: -0.33% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.)

total population: 99.8%

male: 99.8%

female: 99.7% (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 15 years

male: 15 years

female: 16 years (2014)

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

total: 23%. Country comparison to the world: 53rd

male: 24%

female: 21.5% (2016 est.)

Statistic rate of regional capitals

Birth rate in regional centers	Birth/2012	Birth/2011	Birth/2010	Birth/2009	Birth/2007	Birth/2005	Birth/2003
Simferopol	13.6	12.8	11.8	11.8	11.0	9.5	9.2
Lutsk	12.6	12.3	12.6	13.9	12.6	11.7	10.0
Rivne	12.6	12.0	11.8	12.3	10.9	10.1	9.4
Uzhhorod	12.1	11.9	12.0	12.4	12.8	12.6	10.8
Kiev	12.0	11.4	11.5	11.7	10.4	9.8	8.8
Khmelnytskyi	12.0	11.2	11.8	11.5	10.4	10.2	9.2
Sevastopol	12.0	11.1	11.0	11.2	10.5	9.6	8.7
Kherson	11.9	11.1	10.1	10.5	9.6	8.6	8.5
Ternopil	11.8	12.2	11.7	12.3	11.9	11.6	10.4
Ivano-Frankivsk	11.6	11.6	10.1	10.8	11.3	10.7	9.3
Vinnytsia	11.5	11.2	10.9	11.1	10.1	9.4	9.1
Kropyvnytskyi	11.5	11.1	10.5	11.3	10.5	8.9	8.4
Zhytomyr	11.4	11.5	10.8	11.7	10.6	9.5	8.7
Sumy	11.3	10.3	10.0	10.3	9.6	8.2	7.8
Lviv	11.0	10.4	10.0	10.5	9.7	9.3	9.0
Ukraine Urban	10.9	10.5	10.4	10.8	9.9	8.9	8.3
Dnipro	10.5	10.2	10.0	10.5	9.4	8.5	7.9
Luhansk	10.5	9.8	8.8	9.2	8.2	7.4	6.8
Chernivtsi	10.2	10.3	10.1	10.2	9.2	9.6	8.3
Odessa	10.1	9.8	9.6	9.9	9.0	8.3	7.5
Cherkasy	9.9	9.4	9.4	9.4	8.7	7.8	7.4
Poltava	9.9	9.1	8.8	9.7	8.4	7.8	7.3
Zaporizhia	9.5	9.2	9.2	9.3	8.9	8.2	7.5
Mykolaiv	9.4	9.3	9.1	9.4	8.7	8.0	7.9
Chernihiv	9.3	9.2	9.1	9.6	8.4	8.0	7.6
Kharkiv	9.2	8.9	8.8	9.2	8.4	7.6	7.1
Donetsk	9.1	8.7	8.6	9.0	8.2	7.5	6.6

Death rate in regional centers	Death/2012	Death/2011	Death/2010	Death/2009	Death/2007	Death/2005	Death/2003
Kherson	15.2	15.6	14.0	14.2	14.9	14.8	14.5
Luhansk	14.2	14.3	13.6	13.4	13.8	14.2	14.1
Simferopol	14.0	14.8	13.6	13.8	15.3	15.3	15.2
Sevastopol	13.7	14.1	14.7	14.5	15.5	15.4	14.1
Kropyvnytskyi	13.7	13.7	13.8	14.0	14.4	14.1	14.1
Dnipro	13.5	13.7	14.1	13.8	15.1	15.1	16.0
Donetsk	13.4	13.5	14.0	13.9	15.2	15.4	14.7
Zaporizhia	13.2	13.4	14.2	13.8	15.0	14.7	14.2
Ukraine Urban	13.1	13.1	13.7	13.7	14.7	14.8	14.3
Mykolaiv	12.8	12.8	13.8	13.8	14.5	14.5	14.9
Poltava	12.8	12.6	13.2	13.0	13.7	13.6	13.6
Sumy	12.1	11.9	12.4	12.6	13.0	13.1	11.9
Kharkiv	12.0	11.8	12.4	12.2	13.1	13.1	13.0
Odessa	11.9	12.2	13.0	12.5	13.9	14.1	14.0
Cherkasy	11.2	10.7	11.3	11.2	11.7	11.7	11.0
Chernihiv	11.4	11.1	12.0	11.8	12.5	12.4	12.0
Lviv	11.0	10.8	10.5	10.8	11.5	11.4	11.5
Zhytomyr	10.7	10.9	11.2	11.1	12.0	12.2	11.4
Uzhhorod	10.3	10.2	10.5	11.3	12.0	12.4	10.3
Kiev	9.8	9.6	10.3	10.2	11.4	11.2	10.7
Lutsk	9.6	9.4	9.6	9.1	10.4	10.2	10.5
Chernivtsi	9.5	9.4	9.9	10.3	11.0	11.0	10.8
Khmelnytskyi	9.4	8.8	9.0	9.5	9.8	9.8	9.2
Vinnytsia	9.1	9.0	9.2	9.2	10.2	10.2	10.0
Ivano-Frankivsk	9.1	8.7	8.2	8.5	9.1	9.3	9.3
Ternopil	8.1	7.6	8.1	7.7	8.5	8.5	7.7
Rivne	7.9	7.8	8.7	8.6	9.0	9.2	8.8

Ethnic groups

National structure of the population of Ukraine (2001).

  Ukrainians

  Russians

  Others

In 2001, the ethnic composition was: Ukrainians 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Romanian 1.1% (including Moldovan 0.8%), Belarusian 0.6%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 1.0%, Pontic Greeks 0.2% and other 1.6% (including Muslim Bulgarians, otherwise known as Torbesh and a microcosm of Swedes of Gammalsvenskby). It is also estimated that there are about 49,817 ethnic Koreans (0.12%) in Ukraine that belong to the Koryo-saram group. Their number may be as high as 100.000 as many ethnic Koreans were assimilated into the majority population.

Ethnic Ukrainians in Ukraine by raions (2001 census)

Largest ethnicity in Ukraine's cities and raions according to 2001 census. Legend colors: Ukrainians, Russians, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Moldovans, Romanians

Before World War II

Population of the Ukrainian SSR according to ethnic group 1926–1939

Ethnic group	census 19261		census 19392
	Number	%	Number	%
Ukrainians	23,218,860	80.0	23,667,509	76.5
Russians	2,677,166	9.2	4,175,299	13.5
Jews	1,574,428	5.4	1,532,776	5.0
Germans	393,924	1.4	392,458	1.3
Poles	476,435	1.6	357,710	1.2
Moldavians / Romanians	257,794	0.9	230,698	0.8
Belarusians	75,842	0.3	158,174	0.5
Pontic Greeks	104,666	0.4	107,047	0.4
Bulgarians	99,278	0.3	83,838	0.3
Tatars	22,281	0.1	55,456	0.2
Romani	13,578	0.0	10,443	0.0
Others	103,935	0.4	174,810	0.6
Total	29,018,187		30,946,218
1 Source: [1].

After World War II

Population of Ukraine according to ethnic group 1959-2001

Ethnic group	census 19591		census 19702		census 19793		census 19894		census 20015
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Ukrainians	32,158,493	76.8	35,283,857	74.9	36,488,951	73.6	37,419,053	72.7	37,541,693	77.5
Russians	7,090,813	16.9	9,126,331	19.4	10,471,602	21.1	11,355,582	22.1	8,334,141	17.2
Belarusians	290,890	0.7	385,847	0.8	406,098	0.8	440,045	0.9	275,763	0.6
Moldovans	241,650	0.8	265,902	0.8	293,576	0.8	324,525	0.9	258,619	0.8
Crimean Tatars	193	0.0	3,554	0.0	6,636	0.0	46,807	0.1	248,193	0.5
Bulgarians	219,419	0.5	234,390	0.5	238,217	0.5	233,800	0.5	204,574	0.4
Hungarians	149,229	0.4	157,731	0.3	164,373	0.3	163,111	0.3	156,566	0.3
Romanians	100,863	0.3	112,141	0.3	121,795	0.3	134,825	0.3	150,989	0.3
Poles	363,297	0.9	295,107	0.6	258,309	0.5	219,179	0.4	144,130	0.3
Jews	840,311	2.0	777,126	1.7	634,154	1.3	486,628	1.0	400,000	1.0
Armenians	28,024	0.1	33,439	0.1	38,646	0.1	54,200	0.1	99,894	0.2
Greeks	104,359	0.3	106,909	0.2	104,091	0.2	98,594	0.2	91,548	0.2
Tatars	61,334	0.2	72,658	0.2	83,906	0.2	86,875	0.2	73,304	0.2
Romani	22,515	0.1	30,091	0.1	34,411	0.1	47,917	0.1	47,587	0.1
Azerbaijanis	6,680	0.0	10,769	0.0	17,235	0.0	36,961	0.1	45,176	0.1
Georgians	11,574	0.0	14,650	0.0	16,301	0.0	23,540	0.1	34,199	0.1
Germans	23,243	0.1	29,871	0.1	34,139	0.1	37,849	0.1	33,302	0.1
Gagauzs	23,530	0.1	26,464	0.1	29,398	0.1	31,967	0.1	31,923	0.1
Karaites	3,301	0.0	2,596	0.0	1,845	0.0	1,404	0.0	1,196	0.0
Others	129,338	0.3	157,084	0.3	165,650	0.3	209,172	0.4	363,821	1.1
Total	41,869,046		47,126,517		49,609,333		51,452,034		48,240,902
1 Source: [2]. 2 Source: [3]. 3 Source: [4]. 4 Source: [5]. 5 Source: [6].

Ethnic Groups in Ukraine 2001

  Ukrainian (77.8%)

  Russian (17.3%)

  Belarusian (0.6%)

  Moldovan (0.5%)

  Crimean Tatar (0.5%)

  Bulgarian (0.4%)

  Hungarian (0.3%)

  Romanian (0.3%)

  Polish (0.3%)

  Jewish (1.0%)

  Other (1.8%)

Languages

Main article: Languages of Ukraine

According to the latest census that took place, the following languages are common in Ukraine Ukrainian 67.5%, Russian 29.6%, Crimean Tatar, Urum (Turkic Greeks), Bulgarian, Moldovan/Romanian, Polish, Hungarian. The below table gives the total population of various ethnic groups in Ukraine and the primary language, according to the 2001 census.

Primary language by ethnic group

Ethnic group	Population	Native	Ukrainian	Russian	Other
Ukrainians	37,541,693	31,970,728	–	5,544,729	532
Russians	8,334,141	7,993,832	328,152	–	402
Moldovans	258,619	181,124	27,775	45,607	1242
Belarusians	275,763	54,573	48,202	172,251
Crimean Tatars	248,193	228,373	184	15,208	43
Bulgarians	204,574	131,237	10,277	62,067	9
Hungarians	156,566	149,431	5,367	1,513	14
Romanians	150,989	138,522	9,367	2,297	170
Poles	144,130	18,660	102,268	22,495	390
Jews	103,591	3,213	13,924	85,964	16
Armenians	99,894	50,363	5,798	43,105	11
Greeks	91,548	5,829	4,359	80,992	9
Tatars	73,304	25,770	3,310	43,060	6
Koreans	49,817	2,223	37,932	9,662	0
Romani people	47,587	21,266	10,039	6,378	6
Azerbaijanis	45,176	23,958	3,224	16,968	36
Georgians	34,199	12,539	2,818	18,589	15
Germans	33,302	4,056	7,360	21,549	20
Gagauzs	31,923	22,822	1,102	7,232	2
Uzbeks	12,353	3,604	1,818	5,996	0
Chuvash	10,593	2,268	564	7,636	1
Mordvinians	9,331	1,473	646	7,168	0
Turks	8,844	7,923	133	567	0
Lithuanians	7,207	1,932	1,029	4,182	4
Arabs	6,575	4,071	897	1,235	0
Slovaks	6,397	2,633	2,665	335	0
Czechs	5,917	1,190	2,503	2,144	2
Kazakhs	5,526	1,041	822	3,470	11
Latvians	5,079	957	872	3,188	1
Ossetians	4,834	1,150	401	3,110	4
Udmurts	4,712	729	380	3,515	0
Lezghinians	4,349	1,507	330	2,341	4
Tadjiks	4,255	1,521	488	1,983	0
Bashkirs	4,253	843	336	2,920	0
Mari people	4,130	1,059	264	2,758	7
Thai	3,850	3,641	29	164	0
Turkmens	3,709	719	1,079	1,392	0
Albanians	3,308	1,740	301	1,181	0
Assyrians	3,143	883	408	1,730	0
Chechens	2,877	1,581	212	977	0
Estonians	2,868	416	321	2,107	4
Chinese people	2,213	1,817	73	307	0
Kurds	2,088	1,173	236	396	0
Darghins	1,610	409	199	955	0
Komis	1,545	330	127	1,046	0
Karelians	1,522	96	145	1,244	1
Avars	1,496	582	121	761	0
India-Bangladesh-Pakistan	1,483	1,092	26	192	0
Abkhazians	1,458	317	268	797	0
Karaites	1,196	72	160	931	0
Komi-Permians	1,165	160	79	898	1
Kyrgyz people	1,128	208	221	617	19
Laks	1,019	199	271	514	13
Afghans	1,008	551	60	213	0
other	3,228	1,027	144	790	0
NA	188,639	0	1,108	1,844	1

Native languages according to 2001 census

Ukrainian		Russian		Romanian and Moldovan

Crimean-tatar		Bulgarian		Hungarian

Religion

Main article: Religion in Ukraine

A 2016 survey conducted by the Razumkov Centre found that 70% of the population declared themselves believers in any religion, while 6.3% declared themselves non-believers, and 2.7% declared to be atheists. Of the total Ukrainian population, 81.9% declared to be Christians, comprising a 63.4% who declared to be Orthodox, 8.5% Greek Rite Catholics, 7.1% simply Christians, 1.9% Protestants, and 1.0% Latin Rite Catholics. Islam comprises 1.1% of the population, while Judaism and Hinduism were the religions of 0.2% of the population each. A further 16.3% of the population believed in some other religion not identifying in one of those listed hitherto; it may comprise Rodnovery and other faiths.

Among those Ukrainians who declared to believe in Orthodoxy, 38.1% declared to be members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kievan Patriarchate (a body that is not canonically recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church), while 23.0% declared to be members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscovian Patriarchate (which is an autonomous Orthodox church under the Russian Orthodox Church). A further 2.7% were members of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which, like the Kievan Patriarchate, is not recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church. Among the remaining Orthodox Ukrainians, 32.3% declared to be "simply Orthodox", without affiliation to any patriarchate, while a further 3.1% declared that they "did not know" which patriarchate or Orthodox church they belonged to.

Regional differences

Regional differences in population change

Natural population growth rates by oblast (2009).

Between the Soviet census of 1989 and the Ukrainian census of 2001, Ukraine's population declined from 51,706,600 to 48,457,020, a loss of 2,926,700 people or 5.7% of the 1989 population. However, this trend has been quite uneven and varied regionally. Two regions in western Ukraine — Rivne and Zakarpattia, saw slight population increases of .3% and .5% respectively. A third western Ukrainian region, Volyn, lost less than .1% of its population between 1989 and 2001. Collectively, between 1989 and 2001 the seven westernmost regions of Ukraine lost 167,500 people or 1.7% of their 1989 population. The total population of these regions in 2001 was 9,593,800.

Between 1989 and 2001, the population of Kiev City increased by .3% due to positive net-migration. Outside the capital, the central, southern and eastern regions experienced a severe decline in population. Between 1989 and 2001, the Donetsk region lost 491,300 people or 9.2% of its 1989 population, and neighbouring Luhansk region lost 11% of its population. Chernihiv region, in central Ukraine northeast of Kiev, lost 170,600 people or 12% of its 1989 population, the highest percentage loss in of any region in Ukraine. In southern Ukraine, Odessa region lost 173,600 people, or 6.6% of its 1989 population. By 2001, Crimea's population declined by 29,900 people, representing only 1.4% loss of the 1989 population.

However, this was due to the influx of approximately 200,000 Crimean Tatars – a number equivalent to approximately 10% of Crimea's 1989 population – who arrived in Crimea after 1989 and whose population in that region increased by a factor of 6.4 from 38,000 to 243,400 between 1989 and 2001. Collectively, the net population loss in the regions of Ukraine outside the westernmost regions was 2,759,200 people or 6.6% of the 1989 population. The total population of these regions in 2001 was 39,186,100.

Thus, from 1989–2001 the pattern of population change was one of slight growth in Kiev, slight declines in western Ukraine, large declines in eastern, central and southern Ukraine and slight decline in Crimea due to a large influx of Crimean Tatars.

Natural population growth

All population, 2012		Urban population, 2009		Rural population, 2009

Regional differences in birth and fertility rates

The birth rate in Ukraine, 2003.

The birth rate in Ukraine, 2010.

Ukraine's total fertility rate is one of the lowest in Europe. However, significant regional differences in birth rates may account for some of the demographic differences. In the third quarter of 2007, for instance, the highest birth rate among Ukrainian regions occurred in Volyn Oblast, with a birth rate of 13.4/1,000 people, compared to the Ukrainian country-wide average of 9.6/1,000 people. Volyn's birthrate is higher than the average birth rate of any European country with the exceptions of Iceland and Albania.

In 2007, for the first time since 1990, five Ukrainian regions (Zakarpattia Oblast, Rivne Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Lviv Oblast, and Kiev Oblast) experienced more births than deaths. This demonstrates a positive trend of increasing birthrates in the last couple of years throughout Ukraine. The ratio of births to deaths in those regions in 2007 was 119%, 117%, 110%, 100.7%, and 108%, respectively.

With the exception of Kiev region, all of the regions with more births than deaths were in the less industrially developed regions of western Ukraine. According to a spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Justice, the overall ratio of births to deaths in Ukraine had improved from 1 to 1.7 in 2004–2005 to 1 to 1.4 in 2008. However, the worst birth to death ratios in the country were in the eastern and central oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Cherkasy and Poltava. In these regions, for every birth there were 2.1 deaths.

Notably, western Ukraine never experienced the Holodomor, as Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania ruled it at the time, helping to explain the better demographics there, as the rural population was never devastated. Specifically, during the time of the Holodomor, Poland ruled Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Rivne, Ternopil, and Volyn Oblasts, whereas Zakarpattia Oblast was under Czechoslovak rule, and Romania controlled Chernivtsi Oblast and the Budjak section of Odessa Oblast.

Abortion behavior in the North, South, East and Center regions of Ukraine are relatively homogeneous while the Western region differs greatly. Overall, the abortion rate in western Ukraine is three times lower than in other regions; however this is not due to an increased use of modern contraceptive methods in the West, but simply due to the fact that pregnant women in the Western regions are more likely to keep their babies. Donetsk and Dniproptrovsk oblasts in eastern and central Ukraine have the country's highest rate of abortions.

Regional differences and death rates and health

The death rate in Ukraine, 2010.

Death rates also vary widely by region; Eastern and southern Ukraine have the highest death rates in the country, and the life expectancy for children born in Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kherson, Kropyvnytskyi, Luhansk, Mikolaiv, and Odessa regions is 1.5 years lower than the national average.

Ukraine had a suicide rate of 29.6 per 100,000 population in 1998, a significant increase from the suicide rate of 19 per 100,000 in 1988. Suicides are more frequent in the industrially developed regions and in the rural areas of the country than in the cities; In western Ukraine, the suicide rate was lower than the national average at 11.1 per 100,000.

The Southern and eastern Ukrainian regions also suffer from the highest rates of HIV and AIDS, which impacts life expectancy. In late 2000, 60% of all AIDS cases in Ukraine were concentrated in the Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk regions. A major reason for this is the fact that the urbanized and industrialized regions in the East and South of Ukraine suffered most from the economic crisis in the 1990s, which in turn led to the spread of unemployment, alcoholism, and drug abuse, thus setting the conditions for wider spread of the epidemic.

Regional differences in income

In terms of income, the rural western and central regions of Ukraine are the poorest while Kiev and the industrialized eastern regions of Ukraine are the wealthiest. In December 2010 the average monthly income in Ukraine was 2629 hryvnias. The poorest regions in Ukraine, Volyn and Chernihiv, had monthly incomes of 1995 and 1951 hryvnias, respectively. In contrast, the monthly income in the city of Kiev was 4174 hryvnias per month, the city of Sevastopol 2712 hryvnias per month, and in Kiev region was 2647 per month. Outside of the capital and the city of Sevastopol, the wealthiest regions were Donetsk and Luhansk, whose monthly incomes were 2654 and 2631 hryvnias per month, respectively.

In terms of poverty rates, the western and southern regions of Ukraine (particularly rural areas within those regions) have the country's highest poverty rates while Ukraine's eastern regions have the lowest poverty rates. In 2001, 39 percent of Ukraine's population could be defined as poor when the World Bank's poverty threshold of a dollar per day per capita was used. According to these standards, 49 percent of rural western Ukrainians and 45 percent of urban western Ukrainians were poor. In southern Ukraine, the percentages of poor were 51 and 40 percent, respectively. In contrast, 35% of urban and rural Ukrainians were poor based on per capita income less than one dollar per day in the regions of Eastern Ukraine. When poverty was measured according to the percentage of the population who spent 80% or more of their income on food, regional differences shrank somewhat. In the western regions of Ukraine, 28 percent of rural residents and 9 percent of urban residents spent 80% of their income or more on food. In Ukraine's eastern regions, 19 percent of rural and 11 percent of urban residents spent 80% or more of their income on food.

Urbanization

Urbanization rate, 2011		Population density, 2011		Median population of rural settlements, 2011

Migration

Migration growth rate in 2012 (per 1,000).

Ukraine is the major source of migrants in Russia and many of the member states of the European Union. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Ukraine's sputtering economy and political instability contributed to rising emigration, especially to nearby Russia, Poland and Hungary, but also to other States such as Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Israel, Russia and Canada. Although estimates vary, approximately two to three million Ukrainian citizens are currently working abroad, most of them illegally, in construction, service, housekeeping, and agriculture industries. Eastern Ukrainians are likely to immigrate to Russia while western Ukrainians are likely to move to the E.U.

Between 1991 and 2004, the government counted 2,537,400 individuals who emigrated; 1,897,500 moved to other post-Soviet states, and 639,900 moved to other, mainly Western, states.

By the early 2000s, Ukrainian embassies reported that 300,000 Ukrainian citizens were working in Poland, 200,000 in Italy, approximately 200,000 in the Czech Republic, 150,000 in Portugal, 100,000 in Spain, 35,000 in Turkey, 20,000 in the United States and small significant numbers in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The largest number of Ukrainian workers abroad, about one million, are in the Russian Federation. Since 1992, 232,072 persons born in Ukraine have emigrated to the US.

From the point of view of the economic impact on natives, more appropriate than the absolute numbers is the volume of immigration as a proportion of the native population. Russia have the highest rate of Ukrainian emigrants as a proportion of the native population, while the much larger Italy has the largest absolute confirmed number of Ukrainian emigrants (leaving aside Poland Portugal and the Czech Republic, for which there is conflicting data).

See also

• Health in Ukraine
• Demographic history of Crimea
• Ethnic groups in Ukraine

General:

• Aging of Europe

External links

• State Committee for Statistics of Ukraine, official website at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2002-09-15)
• Trafficking in and enslavement of women Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, 2–13 March 1998
• Migration News, 2001 University of California, Davis
• The demographic situation in Ukraine: present state. tendencies, and predictions, Razumkov Centre
• On the status of observance and protection of the rights of Ukrainian citizens abroad the Special Report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
• News on Trafficking of Ukrainian Women, 2000-01 Trafficking in Women from Ukraine Research Project, University of Rhode Island
• Caught Between East and West, Ukraine Struggles with Its Migration Policy By Olena Malynovska, National Institute for International Security Problems, Kyiv, January 2006
• Emigration from Ukraine, 23 October 2003 The Economist (subscription required)
• Meslé, France; Pison, Gilles; Vallin, Jacques (2005). "France-Ukraine: Demographic Twins Separated by History" (PDF). Population and Societies (413): 1–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 May 2011. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• Vallin, Jacques; Meslé, France; Adamets, Serguei; Pyrozhkov, Serhii (2002). "A New Estimate of Ukrainian Population Losses during the Crises of the 1930s and 1940s" (PDF). Population Studies. 56 (3): 249–264. doi:10.1080/00324720215934. PMID 12553326. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Mortality and Causes of Death in 20th-Century Ukraine [7]