• Українська
  • Русский
  • English
Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Last year 23,400 less children were born in Ukraine than in 1997

16 November, 1999 - 00:00

The urban population decreased by 254,100 from January 1998 to January 1999, and that of rural areas by 140,100. By the start of this year Ukraine’s population had dropped to 50.1 million. Last year’s birth rate was 8.3 per 1,000 residents (one of the lowest in Europe and the world). This statistic was provided in the National Report on the Ukrainian Environment in 1998 of the Ministry for Protection of the Environment and Nuclear Safety.

The annual population reduction is explained by the fact that more people die than are born. A total of 419,200 live births were registered last year, 23,400 less than the previous year, reports Interfax Ukraine. An analysis of general morbidity, the authors of the report maintain, testifies to negative environmental factors. The worst picture is presented by diseases of blood and hematogenic organs (11.2% incidence growth), because these systems are the most susceptible to such negative influence. Urogenital malfunctions placed second (8.6%).

COMMENTARY

Ella LIBANOVA, Ph.D. in Economics, Chair of the Human Development Studies Department, Council for Studies of the Productive Forces:

It is true that our birth rate is one of the lowest in Europe, let alone the rest of the world. 8.3 per 1,000 residents is a ratio received by dividing the number of births by the total number of residents. But we all know that the elderly cannot have children, and the fact that are many elderly living in Ukraine.

It is also true, however, that the alarming demographic situation dates from the 1960s when Ukrainian families started having fewer children than ever before, and now we are reaping the harvest. While, roughly speaking, 10 women having 22 babies secures simple reproduction, in Ukraine we have no such figure, so that every coming generation is numerically weaker than the previous one.

Moreover, it is practically impossible to improve the situation, except perhaps by migration. In other words, the population can increase only by encouraging young people from other countries to settle in Ukraine. One must remember, however, that Europeans will decline the invitation. Chinese and people from the Caucasus will. Thus, we have two alternatives: continued loss of population or a somewhat different population.

Rubric: