Ukrainian schoolchildren are the future of the country. But recent years have brought many challenges: war, migration, changes in the education system.
Read the article to find out how many schoolchildren there will be in Ukraine in the 2024-2025 academic year.
How many schoolchildren are there in Ukraine?
At the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, there were about 3.74 million students studying in Ukrainian schools, which is 4.3% less than last year. These figures are provided by the State Statistics Service.
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This is the lowest number of schoolchildren in Ukraine in the last 30 years. And, according to experts from the research RAI for Ukraine programs, the downward trend is likely to continue.
Number of students in Ukraine over the past 30 years: statistics
According to the State Statistics Service, in the 1994-1995 academic year, 7.125 million students were educated in Ukrainian schools. In the following academic year, 1995-1996, their number increased slightly and amounted to 7.143 million people.
However, this growth turned out to be short-lived, because starting with the 1996-1997 school year (7.134 million students), the number of schoolchildren began to gradually decrease.
The decline was observed over a long period. In 1997-1998 there were 7.078 million students, and in 1998-1999 – already 6.987 million. Crossing the mark below 7 million occurred precisely during this period.
The reduction continued in the early 2000s. Thus, in the 1999-2000 school year there were 6.857 million students, in 2000-2001 – 6.764 million, while in 2001-2002 – 6.601 million.
The following years also saw a significant decline. By 2002-2003, the number of students had decreased to 6.350 million, in 2003-2004 to 6.044 million, and in 2004-2005 to 5.731 million. In the 2005-2006 school year, this figure was 5.399 million, and in 2006-2007, 5.120 million students.
In 2007-2008, 4.857 million students studied in Ukrainian schools. The decline continued in 2008-2009 (4.617 million) and 2009-2010 (4.495 million). By 2010-2011, the number of students had dropped to 4.299 million.
In the 2011-2012 school year, there was a slight decrease to 4.292 million, and in 2012-2013 – to 4.222 million schoolchildren. By 2013-2014, the number of students was 4.204 million.
In the 2014-2015 academic year, the number of students decreased to 3.757 million. However, in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, there was a small but steady increase to 3.783 million and 3.846 million, respectively.
After this period and until the 2021-2022 school year, a gradual increase in the number of schoolchildren began. Thus, in the 2017-2018 school year, the number of students reached 3.922 million, in 2018-2019 – 4.042 million, and in 2019-2020 – 4.138 million.
The highest figure in the last 10 years was observed in the 2021-2022 school year – 4.230 million students, which almost returned the figures to the level of the early 2010s.
But a significant drop occurred in the 2022-2023 school year, when the number of students dropped to 4.042 million. This is due to the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine, as a result of which a large number of women with children, including schoolchildren, were forced to leave the country.
In 2023-24, the downward trend continued to 3.906 million. In the 2024-25 school year, enrollment was 3.744 million, the lowest in 30 years.
Infographics: our website
How many students go to school in Ukraine in cities
According to the State Statistics Service, there are more than 12.3 thousand schools in the country today. Most of them are in the Lviv region – there are 1,077 general secondary education institutions there.
Overall, 72% of students study in cities. On average, there are approximately 305 students and 31 teachers per school.
How many Ukrainian schoolchildren study abroad
At the request of NGL MEDIA journalists, the Ministry of Education reported that currently about 9.3% of Ukrainian schoolchildren are studying abroad – this is approximately 345 thousand children.
But this figure includes only those students who are still in the Ukrainian educational system. That is, these 345 thousand are a minimum estimate, because many children stop studying in Ukrainian schools altogether after moving abroad.
By According to a UNESCO study, in 2024, almost 665 thousand Ukrainian schoolchildren studied abroad. But this figure is incomplete – it does not include all EU countries. In addition, only about 29% of these students simultaneously study both in Ukraine and abroad.
In response to a request from NGL MEDIA, the Ministry of Education and Science also provided statistics for 2021-2025 for students in grades 8-12. According to them, approximately 2-4% of students do not advance to the next grade and leave school every year.
Both boys and girls leave Ukraine, but in senior classes there are slightly more girls, by 1-2%. And among graduates, this difference can reach up to 10%.
