Ukraine's current population was 45,559,235 people as of October 1, 2012, while the permanent population was 45,378,880 people, which was 177 people more than on September 1, 2012, the State Statistics Service has said in a statement posted on its official Web site.

Thus, an increase in Ukraine's population was reported for the first time in 19 years. Since 1993, reaching the highest mark in history of 52.2 million people (current population) and 51.7 million people (permanent population), it shrank every month.

At the same time, the country still recorded a negative natural increase - the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 4,060 in September 2012. However, the migration growth of 4,237 people exceeded the natural increase for the first time. This was favored by the ongoing decline in the natural population decrease, and the traditional September surge in immigration growth, which is linked to the beginning of the academic year in Ukraine's higher educational institutions.

In addition, in September, significant population growth was reported in the regions with a high concentration of universities, due to internal migration. In particular, according to the State Statistics Service, the population significantly grew in September in the city of Kyiv (by 8,188 people) and Kharkiv region (by 6,454 people). The population also increased in Odesa, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Rivne, Zakarpattia regions and the city of Sevastopol, but a positive natural increase was reported in these regions. A decrease in population was recorded in all other regions, most of all in Donetsk region (by 3,300 people) and Luhansk region (by 2,400 people).

Despite the ongoing natural decline in the population of Ukraine, a natural increase was reported in September 2012 as the excess of births over deaths was recorded in 11 out of 27 regions in Ukraine: the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (250), Volyn region (199), Zakarpattia region (707), Ivano-Frankivsk region (362), Lviv region (271), Odesa region (129), Rivne region (536), Ternopil region (16), Chernivtsi region (146), as well as in the cities of Kyiv (790) and Sevastopol (49).