The topic of Issue No. 4 of the End of Year Survey is how Ukrainians perceive the demographic situation in the country:

• how to assess the demographic situation in the country as a whole;
• how many children do they think should be in the family.

We compare the data with public views in other European countries.

The End of Year Survey (EoY) is a global annual survey by the international sociological association Gallup International on the future, happiness and expectations of the population of different countries. In 2025, more than 60,000 respondents were surveyed in 61 countries of the world. In Ukraine, the EoY survey is conducted for the third year in a row by the Sociological Group “Rating” (Rating Group).

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Assessment of the demographic situation

Ukraine ranks second in Europe on concerns about slow population growth

• The vast majority of Ukrainians (88%) believe that the population of the country is not growing fast enough. Only 5% rate the pace as optimal, and 1% as too high.
• According to the share of responses about too slow population growth, Ukraine shares the second place in the world with Latvia (there is also 88% of the opinion). An even greater share of concern in this context is in Greece.

How many children should be in the family?

Ukrainians most approve of the family model when there are 2-3 children or more. This resonates with a general concern about population size.

• Most Ukrainians consider a family with two children to be the best model (53%), while 37% believe that it is worth having three or more children. The proportion of those who talk about one child or say that ideally it is possible not to have children at all (“childfree”) is low (6% and 1%, respectively).
• In all socio-demographic categories, the opinion prevails that it is best to have two children. About what it is worth having three or more children relatively Older respondents aged 51+, residents of the West (45%) and the Center (40%) of the country, as well as in rural areas (46%) speak more often.
• Among young people aged 18-35, the model of the family with two children is particularly supported (60% in the responses of both men and women).
• Young men want more children than women. A third of young men (35%) express the opinion that it is worth having three or more children, and among young women this proportion is 20%. For their part, young women are more likely than young men to support the option when there is one child (18% compared to 3%). Such a significant difference between men and women is not observed in other age categories.
• In general, the views of Ukrainians are comparable to the global average trend (54% - for the model of a family with two children, 27% - with three and more).
• In addition, Ukraine is among the top 10 countries in Europe in terms of the frequency of choice of 3+ children (the same list includes, for example, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia). This is again an indicator that Ukrainians are very concerned about the demographic situation.

Note: this question shows the views of the respondents, but does not indicate the actual number of children in their family

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Rating Group is one of the largest research institutions in Ukraine, which has been on the market since 2008. The company is registered in Ukraine and has significant experience in conducting sociological surveys in Ukraine and abroad. The group includes: Sociological Group Rating, Research Lab Rating Lab, Rating Online platform and Rating Call Center.