"Not before 2028". The State Statistics Service names possible dates for the next population census

Ukraine will be able to return to conducting a population census no earlier than 2028. This opinion was expressed in an interview with LIGA.net said the head of the State Statistics Service Arsen Makarchuk.

According to the law, Makarchuk said, the next census can take place after the war is over. In addition, a certain amount of time is given for people to return to their homes, for partial demobilization to take place, for the labor market to change, etc.

"We believe that such a transition period will take at least a year and a half to two years after a stable security situation is achieved. Therefore, realistically, a population census is possible not earlier than 2028, and the general window is 2028-2029," the head of the statistical agency said.

The State Statistics Service has already preparing for the 2023 census mr. Makarchuk reminded: a plan has been developed, methodological materials have been prepared, and there are developments.

"We are definitely not starting from scratch, but from 2022 to 2028, the availability and quality of data will change significantly," he said.

Because of this, the format of the next census will change - it will be held without paper forms and massive household visits. Currently, the State Statistics Service is guided by modern practice: combined censuses, where the basis is state registers, and households collect only what is not in the registers.

"Some countries are already conducting fully registry-based censuses without interviewing people. By 2028, we will definitely use registers, and in the coming years we will determine whether it will be a combined or fully registry format," said the head of the State Statistics Service.

In August, Makarchuk said that the State Statistics Service is going to hold by the end of the year an estimate of the population of Ukraine - it will not replace the census, but it will be "the best that is currently possible."

• The last census in Ukraine took place in 2001, when the population amounted to 48.46 million people. As of December 1, 2019 population Ukraine (without the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea) amounted to 37.29 million people.
• In October 2024, the UN estimated the decline in the population of Ukraine due to a full-scale war in 10 million people.
• Analysts at Forbes Ukraine suggest that there are approximately 30.5 million people.