Ukrainian population shrank by 10 mln over past decade - minister

MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) - Ukraine's population has decreased by 10 million over the past decade to 32 million today, Ukrainian media cited Deputy Prime Minister and National Unity Minister Alexei Chernyshov as saying in an interview with Die Welt.

"The day we gained independence [after the breakup of the Soviet Union], 52 million people lived in Ukraine. This number dropped to 48 million over the subsequent decade. The population shrank to 42 million in 2015, standing at 32 million at the end of 2024," Chernyshov said.

He estimated the total number of ethnic Ukrainians at around 60 million, with half of them living outside of Ukraine. They are refugees, people who left Ukraine before the crisis and members of the Ukrainian community abroad. For instance, Europe is home to nearly 5 million ethnic Ukrainians.

One third of Ukrainians living abroad named the end of the crisis as the main condition for their return to Ukraine, Chernyshov said. The success of economic reforms is also important to these people, he said.

"The first factor is the end of the crisis. We don't rule out that once it's over and there's stable peace, around 30% of these people will seriously consider coming back. Others would obviously set additional conditions. There will also a group of those who will not return [...]," Chernyshov said.