(CLO) According to a United Nations report, Ukraine's population has decreased by 10 million people, equivalent to about a quarter of the population before the conflict with Russia, mainly due to people leaving the country, a decrease in birth rates and an increase in deaths.
At a press conference in Geneva, Florence Bauer, head of the United Nations Population Fund in Eastern Europe, said the conflict in February 2022 had exacerbated an already difficult demographic situation in Ukraine.
“The birth rate in Ukraine has fallen sharply, now at around one child per woman, one of the lowest in the world ,” she said. To maintain a stable population, a minimum birth rate of 2.1 children per woman is needed.
Many people have left Ukraine for Germany after the conflict with Russia. Photo: Reuters
Ukraine, once one of the most populous countries in the Soviet Union, has experienced steady population decline since the bloc's collapse in 1991. By 2021, its population had fallen to around 40 million, down from more than 50 million in the early 1990s.
Much of Ukraine's population decline is due to the 6.7 million refugees now living abroad, mainly in Europe. War deaths also contribute to the decline.
“It is difficult to get exact numbers, but estimates range from tens of thousands of casualties,” she said.
Bauer said that accurate figures on the impact of the war on Ukraine’s population would have to wait until the conflict ended. She also stressed that the immediate impact could be seen in areas that were almost completely depopulated, with villages left with only elderly people and couples unable to start families.
Russia, with a pre-war population of more than 140 million, has also seen its demographic situation worsen since the conflict with Ukraine. In the first six months of this year, the country recorded its lowest birth rate since 1999.
Ha Trang (according to Reuters)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/lien-hop-quoc-ly-giai-vi-sao-dan-so-ukraine-giam-toi-10-trieu-nguoi-post318032.html
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