POPULATION FALLS TO 28.5 MILLION

KYIV, OCTOBER 22 /SRNA-RIA Novosti/ – Ukraine's population has fallen by half a million to 28.5 million, Ela Libanova, director of the Institute for Demography and Social Studies, said today.

Libanova said the main reason for the population decline was emigration rather than deaths during the conflict.

She voiced concern about a second wave of migration after the conflict in Ukraine ends, as men will then be allowed to leave the country freely.

According to United Nations estimates, around 6.8 million Ukrainians have left the country since February 2022.

The Ukrainian Centre for Economic Strategy said in late February that 5.6 million people had left Ukraine since February 2022.

"We have completed our work on population estimates, and the figure is around 28.5 million. We have lost half a million people," Libanova told local media.