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Ukraine records three deaths for every newborn, Kyiv sees highest number of births
Birth rates in Ukraine showed signs of slowing decline last year, while overall mortality slightly decreased, according to Opendatabot. Despite this, there are still three deaths for every newborn in the country. In 2025, Ukraine recorded 168,778 births.
In the crisis year of 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, birth rates dropped by 25%. Since then, the decline has gradually slowed: in 2024, births fell by 6%, and in 2025 by 4.5%. Opendatabot notes that prior to the war, the average annual decline in births was around 8%. Compared to 2021, however, the difference remains stark — only 1.6 times as many children are now born.
Some regions saw growth in births. Lviv region recorded a 1.5% increase, or 230 more babies than in 2024, while Volyn region saw a 0.6% rise, or 44 additional newborns. In contrast, birth rates were lowest in frontline areas: Kherson fell by 16%, Zaporizhzhia by 11%, and Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv regions all experienced a 9% decrease.
Kyiv led the country in births with 19,419 newborns, accounting for 11.5% of all births, while the capital's birth rate declined only 1.5% compared to 2024. Lviv followed with 15,872 births, and Dnipropetrovsk with 12,754.
Mortality in Ukraine totaled 485,296 deaths in 2025, a 2% decrease nationwide. Currently, three deaths occur for every newborn. The highest numbers were recorded in Dnipropetrovsk (52,559), Kyiv (36,296), and Kharkiv (34,670).
Regional mortality trends vary. Deaths fell by 4% in Poltava and Rivne regions, but increased in six others: Kyiv (+2%), Chernivtsi (+1.6%), Cherkasy (+1%), Ivano-Frankivsk (+0.9%), Ternopil (+0.6%), and Lviv (+0.4%).
Earlier, Ella Libanova, director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated Ukraine’s demographic losses due to the war at a “terrifying” 10 million people, including fatalities, migrants, residents of temporarily occupied territories, and those lost due to low birth rates.
