International Desk: The population of Ukraine has decreased by 1 crore (10 million) or about one-fourth. The United Nations said on Tuesday that the population has declined as a result of people leaving Ukraine, falling birthrates and deaths from war.

Speaking at a Geneva news conference, Florence Bauer, head of the UN Population Fund for Eastern Europe, said the aggression that began in Ukraine in February 2022 has exacerbated an already existing population situation.

"The birth rate has come down and now there is an average of one child per woman, one of the lowest birth rates in the world," he said.

To maintain a stable population the fertility rate per woman must be 2.1.

At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine's population was over 50 million. The year before Russia's full-scale invasion in 2021, its population was about 40 million. The demographic situation has already deteriorated dramatically since Greater Russia invaded Ukraine.

The first six months of this year recorded the country's lowest birth rate since 1999.
Bauer, head of Eastern Europe at the United Nations Population Fund, said an accurate calculation of the war's impact on Ukraine's population would have to wait until the end of the conflict.

Source: Reuters