Mortality in Ukraine three times higher than birth rate - Opendatabot

That's according to Opendatabot, which refers to figures from the Ukrainian Justice Ministry, Ukrinform reports.

"The birth rate this year has decreased by 1.5 times compared to the period before the full-scale invasion: 87,655 children against 132,595 in 2021," the report reads.

Most newborns were registered in Kyiv - 9,695, Lviv region - 7,923, and Dnipropetrovsk region - 6,962.

The smallest number of children was born in the frontline regions: 221 children in Kherson region and 702 in Donetsk region. At the same time, not a single newborn baby was registered in Luhansk region in the first six months of 2024.

According to analysts, at present, there are three deaths per newborn. This ratio is one of the key indicators of the demographic crisis.

For comparison, in the pre-Covid years 2018-2020, there were two deaths per birth. Some 250,972 people died in Ukraine in the first half of 2024. This is 1.4 times less than in the same period of 2021, when 349,041 deaths were recorded. However, analysts say, 2021 was the peak year for deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The fewest deaths were recorded in the front-line territories: in Kherson region - 2,334, Donetsk region - 5,753, and Chernivtsi region - 5,422.

The most deaths were registered in Dnipropetrovsk region - 26,374, Kharkiv region - 17,999, and Kyiv - 17,449.