The threat of a demographic crisis has been building in Ukraine for a while but Russia’s full-scale invasion has pushed it to the breaking point.
The country had a population of 41 million in 2021, by the government’s reckoning. Now, it hovers around 35 million and experts warn that it could drop to under 29 million in the next 30 years, according to the EU’s Joint Coordination Centre (JCC).
The UN has estimated that 6.2 million refugees left the country during the full-scale invasion and only one million have come back. That may not be enough for a full economic recovery, experts say.
“We are not ready to lose six million refugees (for good),” Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said at the Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF) on Oct. 12.
If the country can’t get enough people to come back, the future looks grim for its economy and population. And large numbers of people were leaving and not coming back, even before Russia’s total war, over unequal opportunities.
https://kyivindependent.com/demographic-disaster-solving-ukraines-biggest-post-war-threat/
