Ukraine, under any conditions, will face depopulation, a shortage of labor and a decrease in population density, especially in certain territories, said director of the Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies Ella Libanova.

"Depopulation is an inevitable scenario for Ukraine. A shortage of labor is absolutely inevitable. An immigration issue is sharp," she said at the Regional Economic Forum in Kyiv this week.

According to her estimates, as of the beginning of this year, the population in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities was 31.6 million people, and now it is slightly larger.

Libanova pointed out that the population forecast for the beginning of 2033 within the borders of Ukraine in 1991 ranges from 26-35 million people.

"Some 35 million is an extremely optimistic scenario for 2033. The potential of demographic growth has been exhausted. In developed countries, this is compensated by migration," said the director of the Institute.

She recalled that according to pre-war estimates, 42% of 20-year-old men in Ukraine do not live to 65, while in Poland this figure is 27%, and the population over 65 is 20% higher than those who are 15 and younger.

Speaking about emigration, Libanova recalled that before the war it was believed that about 3 million Ukrainians worked abroad, but since the beginning of the war, about 6 million more people have left. The expert added that the Eurostat data show a gradual flow of Ukrainian refugees further from the border with Ukraine, which reduces the likelihood of their return. In her opinion, it will be difficult to return children who will go to higher education institutions abroad, and, in general, many countries, and especially their businesses, are interested in the integration of Ukrainian refugees.

The Director of the Institute of Demography also drew attention to the need to revise regional policy in the country, in particular, to create incentives for residents of the north-eastern regions, from where it will be necessary to remove strategic industries due to proximity to Russia. Libanova clarified that she is especially concerned about Chernihiv and Sumy regions, since "Kharkiv region can still survice at the expense of Kharkiv."

Speaking about the western region, she noted that its ecological capacity for population growth has already been exhausted except for Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions.

"I see the greatest prospects for relocation in central Ukraine," the expert said.

Among other trends, she also predicted the continuation of the population flow to the metropolises characteristic of poor countries, of which there are five in Ukraine today: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv and Dnipro, and to which, she hopes, Donetsk will return after the victory.