Despite everything: Kyiv records Ukraine’s highest number of newborns in 2026
Kyiv recorded the highest number of births since the start of the year in July. During that month, 1,949 babies were born — almost 200 more than in any previous month of 2026. By comparison, 1,758 children were born in January, 1,567 in February, 1,691 in March, 1,673 in April, 1,751 in May, and 1,756 in June.
Other major cities also saw an increase in the number of newborns in July. The combined number of babies born in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and Dnipro reached its highest level since the beginning of the year, with 4,100 children born in one month. This is almost 500 more babies than in any previous month of 2026.
Data from maternity hospitals in the capital also show a high number of births in early August. For example, at the Leleka maternity hospital in Kyiv, 14 babies were born over the past weekend alone, almost twice the average for the same period this year.
July, therefore, became a "record" month, with the highest number of newborns since the start of 2026 both in Kyiv and across the four major cities combined — Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and Dnipro. Further statistical data will show whether this trend continues in the coming months.
Background
It should be noted that in the first six months of 2026, 73,292 children were born in Ukraine, while 259,853 people died. The data shows that Ukraine's birth rate has almost halved since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, reflecting the deepening demographic crisis caused by the war, mass displacement, and ongoing security risks.
It is worth noting that, according to Forbes Ukraine's analytical department, 30.5 million people currently live in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. Several million more remain in the temporarily occupied territories.
In general, Ukraine's birth rate has been declining since 2013, decreasing by approximately 7% per year.
Ukraine's demographic outlook—characterized by rapid aging, one of the world's lowest birth rates, and high mortality—remains a pressing challenge. Rubryka examined the trends and potential remedies in an interview with Oleksandr Hladun, Deputy Director of the Institute of Demography and Problems of Quality of Life at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Read the whole piece: "It's time to let go of the idea that we were 40 or 50 million": A Ukrainian demographer on Ukraine's population crisis."
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21 of August 2026
