Doctor: Ukraine needs eight children per woman to restore 2022 population

Director of the Kyiv Perinatal Center Dmytro Hovseiev. Photo: Censor.NET

On August 15, Dmytro Hovseiev, director of the Kyiv Perinatal Center, said that for Ukraine’s population to return to its 2022 level, every woman would have to give birth to eight children, Censor.NET reports.

According to the doctor, given the number of people currently remaining in the country, such a birth rate would be necessary to restore Ukraine’s former demographic potential. Hovseev acknowledged, however, that having every woman give birth to eight children is unrealistic.

He named the return of Ukrainians who left the country after the start of the full-scale war as one of the key factors in rebuilding the population. However, the doctor expressed doubt that everyone would return, including young people who might otherwise start families and have children in the future.

Hovseev also noted a sharp decline in the birth rate in Kyiv. While the capital’s municipal medical facilities previously recorded up to 33,000 births a year, in 2025–2026 that figure stands at around 20,000.

According to the doctor, financial incentives alone are not enough to encourage people to have children. For women deciding whether to have a child, the primary consideration today is safety, along with employment and suitable living conditions for raising a family.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Ukraine’s death rate is four times its birth rate.

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