Deaths outnumber births nearly four to one in Ukraine – official data

Illustrative image of a Ukrainian woman with an infant. Photo: UOJ

On July 22, 2026, official statistics showed that 73,292 children were born in Ukraine during the first six months of the year, while 259,853 people died. As a result, the country's death rate was nearly four times higher than its birth rate, according to OpenDataBot, citing data from Ukraine's Ministry of Justice.

Compared with the first half of 2025, the number of births fell by 16%, and compared with the same period in 2021, it almost halved. Ukraine is now recording about 12,000 births per month, compared to roughly 32,000 a decade ago.

Kyiv recorded the highest number of births, with 8,352 newborns. Among the regions, Lviv led with 6,617 births, followed by Dnipropetrovsk (5,611), Odesa (5,450), and Kyiv region (4,584). The sharpest declines in births were recorded in frontline regions, as well as in Vinnytsia, Lviv, and Ternopil regions.

A total of 259,853 deaths were registered during the first half of the year – 4% more than during the same period in 2025. This marks the first official increase in mortality in the past five years. The highest number of deaths was recorded in Dnipropetrovsk region (28,386), while Kyiv saw the steepest increase, with mortality rising by 11%.

The most severe demographic imbalance was recorded in Donetsk region, where there were 19 deaths for every birth, followed by Kherson region with 14 deaths per newborn. In Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions, the ratio stood at six deaths for every birth. The most favorable figures were reported in Rivne, Volyn, and Zakarpattia regions, where there were two deaths for every newborn.

As the UOJ reported earlier, the UGCC priest spoke out against bringing foreign labor migrants to Ukraine.

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