How Demographers Determine the Population Size in Ukraine and What Mobile Phones Have to Do with It.

The Ukrainian Government Controls 30 Million People in Its Territories

According to Ella Libanova, the director of the Institute of Demography and Social Sciences named after M.V. Ptukhа of the NAS of Ukraine, at the beginning of 2024, the population in the controlled territories of Ukraine was about 30 million people. It is noted that this figure may vary by several hundred thousand in either direction.

Libanova explained that demographers determine the population size based on data from three leading mobile operators in Ukraine: 'Kyivstar', Vodafone, and lifecell. It should be noted that this is an estimate, not a final figure, as a population census is not conducted.

Moreover, this statistics also include elderly and younger people who do not use mobile phones.

Ella Libanova, the director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, emphasized the need to provide refugees with social status in Ukraine, as the state finds it difficult to compete with countries that offer higher wages.

It was also reported that before the invasion of Ukraine, on average, there were 1.2 children per woman of reproductive age, and after the invasion - 0.9. This indicator is the third lowest in the world.