The Washington Post: Ukraine’s populace will shrink to 25 million by 2050

Illustrative photo: Source: Espreso

February 27, 2025 – According to official estimates, Ukraine’s total population is currently less than 36 million people, but the real numbers may be even lower.

Ukraine’s demographic indicators were among the worst in the world even before the war. Now, a significant portion of the population that should be having children has been drastically reduced: most women of reproductive age have left the country, while men "have died or are fighting or are wounded or have left." This was stated in an article by The Washington Post on February 27, 2025.

"Today, Ukraine’s population, including the areas under Russian occupation, is believed to be just under 36 million, officials say, down from roughly 41 million when the war broke out. These numbers are estimates, however, and could be much lower. If demographic trends continue, Ukraine’s population is expected to be around 25 million by mid-century and just 15 million in 2100.," the article states.

While the Ukrainian government hopes that many refugees – especially young professionals and women in their childbearing years – will return after the war, The Washington Post also shares comments from Ukrainians themselves.

Dana Pavlychko, a 37-year-old Oxford University MBA graduate with an MBA, currently lives in Germany with her husband and three children. She does not plan to return permanently.

"Our kids are definitely not moving back to Ukraine because we are not going to uproot them from a German school system to a Ukraine school system and totally change [their] lives," the publication quotes her as saying, adding that many Ukrainians abroad feel the same way.

Meanwhile, those who remain in the country face stress, economic stagnation, and poverty, the American media outlet notes. For these reasons, not everyone "either wants, or can, or is ready to start a family now."

As the UOJ previously reported, according to the Ministry of Justice, in 2024, the death rate in Ukraine exceeded the birth rate by 2.8 times.

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