Editing Demographics of Ukraine (section)

===Regional differences in birth and fertility rates===

Ukraine's [[total fertility rate]] is one of the lowest in Europe.<ref>[http://demoscope.ru/weekly/2007/0285/tema03.php Рождаемость в Украине самая низкая в Европе], Demoscope.ru,  16–29 April 2007 {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf |author=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division |publisher=UN |title=United Nations World Population Prospects: 2006 revision, Table A.15 |location=New York |year=2007 |access-date=26 September 2010 }}</ref> However, significant regional differences in birth rates may account for some of the demographic differences. In the third quarter of 2007, for instance, the highest birth rate among Ukrainian oblasts occurred in [[Volyn Oblast]], with a birth rate of 13.4/1,000 people, compared to the Ukrainian countrywide average of 9.6/1,000 people.<ref>MIGnews: ''[http://mignews.com.ua/en/articles/274596.html Volyn Region&nbsp;– Fertility Leader in Ukraine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012041758/http://mignews.com.ua/en/articles/274596.html |date=12 October 2007 }}'', 10 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.</ref> Volyn's birthrate was higher than the average birth rate of any European country except Iceland and Albania.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2054rank.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309174328/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2054rank.html|url-status=dead|title=CIA world factbook|archive-date=9 March 2013|access-date=25 September 2022}}</ref>

In 2007, for the first time since 1990, five Ukrainian oblasts ([[Zakarpattia Oblast|Zakarpattia]], [[Rivne Oblast|Rivne]], [[Volyn Oblast|Volyn]], [[Lviv Oblast|Lviv]], and [[Kyiv Oblast|Kyiv]] oblasts) experienced more births than deaths.<ref name="Ukrainian news">Ukrainian News: ''[http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/70952.html Birth Rate Exceeds Death Rate in Five Regions of Ukraine First Since 1990s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218034449/http://www.ukranews.com/eng/article/70952.html |date=18 February 2009 }}'' 4 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.</ref> This demonstrated a positive trend of increasing birthrates in the preceding years throughout Ukraine. The ratio of births to deaths in those oblasts in 2007 was 119%, 117%, 110%, 100.7%, and 108%, respectively.<ref name="Ukrainian news"/>

With the exception of the Kyiv Oblast, all of the oblasts with more births than deaths were in the less-industrially developed oblasts of western Ukraine. According to a spokesperson for Ukraine's Ministry of Justice, the overall ratio of births to deaths in Ukraine improved from 1 to 1.7 in 2004–2005 to 1 to 1.4 in 2008. However, the worst birth-to-death ratios in the country were in the eastern and central oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Cherkasy and Poltava. These areas saw 2.1 deaths for every birth.<ref>Inna Filipenko. ''The Day''. [http://www.day.kiev.ua/263848/ Births and deaths: A record-breaking half million children were born in Ukraine last year.] #3. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2009.</ref>

Notably, western Ukraine never experienced the [[Holodomor]], as [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]], [[Czechoslovakia]], and [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]] ruled it at the time, helping to understand the more favorable demographic trends there, as the rural population was never devastated. Specifically, during the Holodomor, Poland ruled [[Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast|Ivano-Frankivsk]], [[Lviv Oblast|Lviv]], [[Rivne Oblast|Rivne]], [[Ternopil Oblast|Ternopil]], and [[Volyn Oblast|Volyn]] oblasts, whereas [[Zakarpattia Oblast]] was under Czechoslovak rule, and Romania controlled [[Chernivtsi Oblast]] and the [[Budjak]] section of [[Odesa Oblast]].

While abortion rates in the North, South, East and Center of Ukraine are relatively homogeneous, the Western region differs greatly. Overall, the abortion rate in western Ukraine is three times lower than in other regions. This is not due to increased use of modern contraceptive methods in the West, but to the fact that pregnant women in the Western regions are more likely to keep their babies.<ref>Natalia LEvchuk, Brienna Perelli-Harris. (2009). [http://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2009-045.pdf Declining Fertility in UKraine: What is the role of abortion and contraception?] Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research</ref> Donetsk and Dniproptrovsk oblasts in eastern and central Ukraine have the country's highest abortion rate.<ref name="worldbank">{{cite web |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTUKRAINE/Resources/328335-1147812406770/ukr_aids_Chapt3.pdf |title=World Bank Report, Chapter 3: Demographic Forecast Under the HIV/AIDS Epidemic}}</ref>
{|class="whitetable" style="text-align:center"
 |+ Natural population growth
 | width="32%"|[[File:BirthRate2003ua.PNG|center|250px]]
 | width="1%"|
 | width="32%"|[[File:BirthRate2010ua.PNG|center|250px]]
 | width="1%"|
 | width="32%"|[[File:DeathRate2010ua.PNG|center|250px]]
 | width="1%"|
 |-
 |The birth rate in Ukraine, 2003.
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 |The birth rate in Ukraine, 2010.
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 |The death rate in Ukraine, 2010.
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 |}