Ukraine experienced several decades of rapid population growth between 1950 and 1990 when its population was at its highest of 51.46 million people.
Since the 1990s, Ukraine’s population has been declining due to high emigration rates, low birth rates, and high death rates. Ukraine’s birth rate is 9.2 births per 1,000 people, which has decreased over 2% every year the past several years, and its death rate is 15.193 deaths per 1,000 people. Many people leave the country because Ukraine is the second-poorest in Europe, is in conflict with Russia to its east, and is beset by corruption.
The population is currently declining at a rate of 0.59%, a rate has increased every year since 2015. The United Nations estimates that Ukraine could lose nearly one-fifth of its population by 2050.
| Ukraine Population (as of 10/15/2024) | 38,103,376 |
| Last UN Estimate (July 1, 2024) | 37,860,200 |
| Births per Day | 567 |
| Deaths per Day | 1,410 |
| Migrations per Day | 3,138 |
| Net Change per Day | 2,294 |
| Population Change Since Jan. 1 | 660,672 |
Net increase of 1 person every 38 seconds
Population estimates based on interpolation of data from World Population Prospects
| One birth every 2.53 minutes | |
| One death every 1.02 minutes | |
| One immigrant every 28 seconds | |
| Net gain of one person every 38 seconds |
City | 2024 Pop. |
|---|---|
| Kyiv | 2,797,553 |
| Kharkiv | 1,430,885 |
| Dnipro | 1,032,822 |
| Donetsk | 1,024,700 |
| Odessa | 1,001,558 |
| Zaporizhia | 796,217 |
| Lviv | 717,803 |
| Kryvyi Rih | 652,380 |
| Mykolayiv | 510,840 |
| Mariupol | 481,626 |
The entire country constitutes a total land area of 603,628 km². This makes Ukraine by far the biggest country in the whole of Europe. The population density is currently at approximately 73 people per square kilometer.
Ukraine is a unitary state comprised of 24 provinces. It also has the Crimean Peninsula and 2 cities with very special status. These cities are Sevastopol and the capital of the country, Kyiv.
Sevastopol is located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimean Peninsula. It is the largest port in Ukraine. (The first was Port of Odesa.) The city houses the vast population of 342,451 people, which was calculated in the 2001 consensus. The city lies on an area of 864 km² which is about 0.14% of the whole country.
Year | Population | Change | Density (/km²) | Population Rank | Density Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 37,860,200 | -3.38% | 65 | 42 | 147 |
| 2023 | 37,732,800 | -3.55% | 65 | 40 | 147 |
| 2020 | 44,680,000 | -0.62% | 77 | 33 | 132 |
| 2019 | 44,957,500 | -0.56% | 78 | 33 | 130 |
| 2018 | 45,208,900 | -0.5% | 78 | 31 | 130 |
| 2017 | 45,436,000 | -0.4% | 78 | 31 | 130 |
| 2015 | 45,784,900 | -0.29% | 79 | 31 | 127 |
| 2010 | 46,456,000 | -0.48% | 80 | 28 | 122 |
| 2005 | 47,585,600 | -0.81% | 82 | 26 | 113 |
| 2000 | 49,556,700 | -0.83% | 86 | 24 | 108 |
| 1995 | 51,665,500 | -0.15% | 89 | 23 | 105 |
| 1990 | 52,054,100 | 0.37% | 90 | 22 | 102 |
| 1985 | 51,108,800 | 0.46% | 88 | 18 | 96 |
| 1980 | 49,955,200 | 0.44% | 86 | 17 | 89 |
| 1975 | 48,865,200 | 0.67% | 84 | 16 | 88 |
| 1970 | 47,261,300 | 0.81% | 82 | 16 | 86 |
| 1965 | 45,386,900 | 1.17% | 78 | 15 | 80 |
| 1960 | 42,824,100 | 1.44% | 74 | 15 | 79 |
| 1955 | 39,859,700 | 1.33% | 69 | 15 | 79 |
Year | Population | Change | Density (/km²) | Population Rank | Density Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 37,860,200 | -3.38% | 65 | 42 | 147 |
| 2025 | 38,980,400 | -2.69% | 67 | 40 | 147 |
| 2030 | 38,353,900 | -0.32% | 66 | 43 | 150 |
| 2035 | 36,828,100 | -0.81% | 64 | 51 | 155 |
| 2040 | 35,270,900 | -0.86% | 61 | 52 | 158 |
| 2045 | 33,680,400 | -0.92% | 58 | 59 | 160 |
| 2050 | 31,990,100 | -1.03% | 55 | 61 | 163 |
| 2055 | 30,184,800 | -1.16% | 52 | 63 | 168 |
| 2060 | 28,311,300 | -1.27% | 49 | 65 | 172 |
| 2065 | 26,435,900 | -1.36% | 46 | 70 | 174 |
| 2070 | 24,594,200 | -1.43% | 42 | 70 | 178 |
| 2075 | 22,803,000 | -1.5% | 39 | 72 | 179 |
| 2080 | 21,075,900 | -1.56% | 36 | 76 | 182 |
| 2085 | 19,435,100 | -1.61% | 34 | 79 | 185 |
| 2090 | 17,908,900 | -1.62% | 31 | 82 | 187 |
| 2095 | 16,499,800 | -1.63% | 28 | 87 | 189 |
41.2
Total
38.2
Male
44.3
Female
There are people over age 18 in Ukraine.
Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 2020 |
| 2001 | 5 December 2001 |
| 1989 | 12 January 1989 |
Ukraine is part of Eastern Europe. It shares borders with the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, and with Belarus towards the northwest border. Hungary, Slovakia and Poland are to its west; Romania and Moldova share its southwest border; and the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea are to its south and southeast borders.
Ukrainians make up almost 77.8% of the total population, while Russians take the second spot with almost 17% of the population. Other minorities include Bella Russians 0.6%, Bulgarians 0.4%, Hungarians 0.3%, Crimean Tatars 0.5%, while Romanians and Poles both are 0.3% and Jewish residents make up 0.2% of the total population. Other minorities present are 1.8%.
The major language is Ukrainian, spoken by 67% of the population, while the second most common language is Russian, spoken by 24% of the total population. The remaining 9% is comprised of various other languages.
The literacy rate is excellent - 99.7%. The male literacy rate is 99.8%, while the female literacy rate is 99.6%. The fertility rate, however, is fairly low: 1.29 children born/woman. The death rate of almost 15 deaths/1000 persons is higher than the birth rate, which is almost 9.59 births/1000 population.
Almost 14% of the population is ages 0-14, while 12% is 15-24 years of age. And 57% of the population is 25-64 years of age, while 15% is 65 years and over.
The people in Ukraine are known to be from several religious affiliations. These include the most common ones - the Kiev Patriarchy Orthodox Church, the Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Protestant churches, the Roman Catholic Church, Islam, and Jewish - and some other minority religions as well.
The life expectancy rate in Ukraine is very low compared to that of the rest of the world - 79.4 in 2018. The infant mortality rate has been decreasing in recent years. It reached 9 deaths per 1000 infants in 2011 and was at 8.5 deaths per 1000 infants in 2012 according to the latest statistics. Life expectancy at birth has been increasing, which is a good sign since the population has had a very high death rate in the past few years. In 2011, the results of the official Ukraine census stated a life expectancy of 71.22 years, an increase from what it was in the past. The life expectancy for the male population was calculated to be 65.98 years, whereas it was 75.88 years for the female population.
The fertility rate has been rising as well. With an estimated value of 1.08 children per woman, the rate has risen to 1.46 children per woman - a good sign as it adds to the growth rate of the comparatively low population.
The population of Ukraine has undergone a major crisis since the 1990s. This is mainly because of the high death rate and a very low birth rate. The country’s population is shrinking by over 150,000 people every year. However, things have changed a little since the year 2000. The birth rate, which was previously very low, has risen recently and now is comparable to that of the European average. However, it still needs to increase by 50% more in order for the population to stabilize.
In 2018, the death rate is at 11.1 deaths per 1,000 population, and the birth rate is at 9 births per 1,000 population. The population growth rate is currently at -.48%.