Depopulation in Ukraine: Low fertility, high mortality and emigration

We aimed to answer the following general the participants, the underlying reasons for the population research questions: (1) Had the focus group participants decline were the lack of job opportunities, the degradation perceived a change in their local surroundings over the of infrastructure and limited public transport. [...] urban areas? (3) How did the participants in Donetsk, in the Russian-backed separatist territory, view population Perceptions of local population decline in Donetsk change in their city? (4) Was population decline in Ukraine “Empty! Empty!” seen as a problem? (5) How did the participants perceive the causes of population decline, and its consequences for The situation in Donetsk was even worse. [...] While the population increase in Kharkiv was in line with the long- The participants linked the fertility decline to the economic term development of the city since the Soviet era, the situation, noting how difficult it was for young people to changes in Mariupol were more recent. [...] bleak, permeated by a sense of doom about the future of The discussions in the separatist-occupied territory of the country. [...] It was clear policymakers across the world to recognise the issue of from the participants’ comments that the effects of the depopulation in Ukraine, and provide support to its people triple burden of depopulation in rural areas, combined with in rebuilding, regenerating and stopping the inimical spiral poverty and neglect, were more severe in Ukraine than in of depopulation.