Ukraine recorded roughly three times as many deaths as births in the first half of this year.
A website analyzing Ukrainian government data says around 87,000 babies were born during the six months.
That’s down 9 percent from the same period last year, and one-third the level in 2021, before the Russian invasion began. The displacement of citizens due to the prolonged conflict is one of the contributing factors.
The website says the number of deaths was over 250,000, or about three times the number of births.
Details on the causes of death are not available. But the website says most fatalities were recorded in the Dnipropetrovsk region, followed by the Kharkiv region.
Both are heavily populated areas in the country’s east, and have seen regular Russian attacks.
Ukrainian media outlet The Kyiv Independent says, “While the low birth rates and high mortality have been a long-standing issue in Ukraine, the demographic crisis has deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s full-scale war.”