The forecast figure for Ukraine's population as of January 1, 2013 will be 45,547,800 people, which is 42,900 people less than the average figure for the Ukrainian population in 2012, reads a posting on the Web site of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine.

Population in towns and cities will total 31.4 million and in rural areas – 14.2 million.

The largest number of citizens will live in Donetsk region (4.4 million), Dnipropetrovsk region (3.3 million), Kyiv city (2.84 million) and Kharkiv region (2.74 million).

The smallest indicator will be seen in Kirovohrad region (995,600), Chernivtsi region (907,100) and Sevastopol city (383,400).

Earlier, the State Statistics Service reported that 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.

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.