Ukraine
- Capital:
- Kiev
- Continent:
- Europe
- Region(s):
- Eastern Europe
- Abbreviation:
- UKR
* As of 11/21/2025
1 birth
Every 2.4 minutes
1 death
Every 1.0 minutes
1 immigrant
Every 18.5 seconds
1 person
Every 22.5 seconds
307K
500K
750K
1M
2.5M
Ukraine is part of Eastern Europe. It shares borders with the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, and with Belarus towards the northwest border. Hungary, Slovakia and Poland are to its west; Romania and Moldova share its southwest border; and the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea are to its south and southeast borders.
Ukrainians make up almost 77.8% of the total population, while Russians take the second spot with almost 17% of the population. Other minorities include Bella Russians 0.6%, Bulgarians 0.4%, Hungarians 0.3%, Crimean Tatars 0.5%, while Romanians and Poles both are 0.3% and Jewish residents make up 0.2% of the total population. Other minorities present are 1.8%.
The major language is Ukrainian, spoken by 67% of the population, while the second most common language is Russian, spoken by 24% of the total population. The remaining 9% is comprised of various other languages.
The literacy rate is excellent - 99.7%. The male literacy rate is 99.8%, while the female literacy rate is 99.6%. The fertility rate, however, is fairly low: 1.29 children born/woman. The death rate of almost 15 deaths/1000 persons is higher than the birth rate, which is almost 9.59 births/1000 population.
Ukrainian (77.8%)
Russian (17.3%)
Belarusian (0.6%)
Moldovan (0.5%)
Crimean Tatar (0.5%)
Bulgarian (0.4%)
Hungarian (0.3%)
Romanian (0.3%)
Polish (0.3%)
Jewish (0.2%)
Other (1.8%)
The main religion in Ukraine is Orthodox (includes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and the Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP)).
Orthodox (includes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and the Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP))
Ukrainian Greek Catholic
None
Other
Muslim
Roman Catholic
Protestant
Jewish
Almost 14% of the population is ages 0-14, while 12% is 15-24 years of age. And 57% of the population is 25-64 years of age, while 15% is 65 years and over.
The people in Ukraine are known to be from several religious affiliations. These include the most common ones - the Kiev Patriarchy Orthodox Church, the Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox Church, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, Protestant churches, the Roman Catholic Church, Islam, and Jewish - and some other minority religions as well.
The life expectancy rate in Ukraine is very low compared to that of the rest of the world - 79.4 in 2018. The infant mortality rate has been decreasing in recent years. It reached 9 deaths per 1000 infants in 2011 and was at 8.5 deaths per 1000 infants in 2012 according to the latest statistics. Life expectancy at birth has been increasing, which is a good sign since the population has had a very high death rate in the past few years. In 2011, the results of the official Ukraine census stated a life expectancy of 71.22 years, an increase from what it was in the past. The life expectancy for the male population was calculated to be 65.98 years, whereas it was 75.88 years for the female population.
The fertility rate has been rising as well. With an estimated value of 1.08 children per woman, the rate has risen to 1.46 children per woman - a good sign as it adds to the growth rate of the comparatively low population.
The population of Ukraine has undergone a major crisis since the 1990s. This is mainly because of the high death rate and a very low birth rate. The country’s population is shrinking by over 150,000 people every year. However, things have changed a little since the year 2000. The birth rate, which was previously very low, has risen recently and now is comparable to that of the European average. However, it still needs to increase by 50% more in order for the population to stabilize.
In 2018, the death rate is at 11.1 deaths per 1,000 population, and the birth rate is at 9 births per 1,000 population. The population growth rate is currently at -.48%.