In 2023, more than 187,000 newborns were born in Ukraine, which was the lowest figure during the period of the country's independence, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine reported.
The leaders in the number of births were Kyiv (about 20,000), Lviv (almost 17,000), Dnipropetrovsk (over 14,000), Odesa (about 14,000), Kyiv (almost 11,000), Rivne (almost 10,000) regions. and Transcarpathian (over 9 thousand) regions.
Compared to the previous year, in 2022 almost 207 thousand births were recorded in Ukraine. This is a significant drop compared to previous years, in particular, in 2012, before the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, the number of newborns was 520,000. In 2019, before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, this figure was 309 thousand, and in 2021 - 278 thousand.
It is also worth noting that in 2023, 186,000 marriages were registered in Ukraine, most of which took place in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions. In the same period, only 24,000 divorces were recorded, which is eight times less than the number of marriages.
According to Svitlana Aksyonova, a senior researcher at the Institute of Demography and Quality of Life Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the number of newborns, which amounted to 187,000 in 2023, is a fairly positive indicator for the second year of a full-scale war.
"I expected this figure to be lower. However, it is still significantly lower than necessary to ensure population growth," she emphasizes.
According to demographers, during the war, Ukraine cannot count on the same indicators that are characteristic of the peace period, since no region can be considered completely safe.
"The most common practice among families now is to postpone the birth of children in anticipation of a favorable period for this. This approach to the decision to have a child is really determined by the logic of a responsible attitude towards one's role as a mother or father," she explains.
Aksyonova notes that a significant number of families began to postpone the birth of children even during the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, it is becoming increasingly difficult for families to make the decision to have another baby after the birth of their first child due to the impact of war, social and economic difficulties.
Another factor that leads to a decrease in the birth rate is the separation of families due to war, when the woman is abroad and the husband is in Ukraine, or vice versa, when the woman remains in Ukraine and her husband is at the front.
"The longer the war lasts, the more losses that cannot be restored. Those losses in fertility that have already occurred will likely remain uncompensated in the future," Aksyonova believes.
In her opinion, too many hopes in Ukraine are connected with the so-called compensatory effect - the idea that delayed plans to have children will lead to a sharp increase in the birth rate in the future.
"Prolonged postponement can lead to families abandoning the idea of having children. Our neighbors will not disappear, and something unexpected can happen at any moment, such as a missile strike or other danger," the demographer emphasizes.
At the same time, the number of 187 thousand newborns per year may not seem very impressive, but it can serve as a ray of hope for recovery.
Svitlana Aksyonova also recommends not to pay too much attention to the number of marriages.
"For many people, this document is not always considered important for being together, sometimes spontaneous decisions are made. Statistics in this regard are somewhat inconsistent and do not always require explanations, unlike birth statistics," she explains.
In addition, it should be taken into account that both birth statistics and marriage statistics do not take into account the situation in the occupied territories.
