On statistics: how many Orthodox, Muslims and Jews we have

Head of the OP Budanov lighting the menorah. Photo: JCC

The court sociological "Razumkov Center" published statistics on the confessional sympathies of Ukrainians for 2025, as well as a review of 25 years of research. The introductory word to the study was written by the DESS head Viktor Yelensky.

The figures were not surprising. 42.1% of the population identify themselves with the OCU, and only 5.4% with the UOC. Among those who call themselves Orthodox, the figures are 72.2% versus 9.3% respectively. At the same time, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is referred to in the study as the "Moscow Patriarchate". Even if we believe that the poll figures are correct, it is hard to imagine a person who, when communicating with sociologists, would affirmatively answer whether he associates himself with Moscow. Therefore, trust in the research methods of the Razumkov Center on the topic of Orthodoxy is minimal.

Nevertheless, let us make a brief analysis. The declared gap between the number of OCU and UOC believers is 8 times. Accordingly, we should see a difference in services. Either there should be many times more OCU churches than UOC churches, or OCU churches should be overcrowded with parishioners. As we know, there is neither one nor the other. Moreover, the situation is the opposite. The UOC, despite mass seizures, still has more churches than Dumenko's structure, and the services of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church have far more parishioners.

And yet there are figures in the statistics that look plausible.
• After the formation of the OCU in 2018, the number of those who identify themselves as Orthodox sharply decreased from 67% to 58%. And this despite the fact that all previous years this figure was constant. That is, receiving the Tomos not only did not add interest in Orthodoxy, but gave the opposite effect. This is thought to be related to the intrusive propaganda of the authorities and church seizures.
• The number of Uniates over 25 years of research has grown by half from 7.6% to 11.8%. If we believe the sociologists, there are twice as many of them today as UOC believers(!)
• The figures for denomanations to which the authorities show unprecedented attention are also interesting: Jews and Muslims. According to the Center's data, 0.0% identify themselves as Jews (in 2000 it was 0.3%), and 0.0% as Muslims (in 2000 it was 0.7%).

But our top leadership lights menorahs, congratulates the people on Ramadan and attends iftars.

Probably, conclusions are hardly necessary. Everyone can make them on their own.

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