Death rate grows in the occupied part of Donbass - research

The death rate is increasing in the occupied territories of Donbass because of worsening of living conditions. This is stated in "The occupied Donbass: economy, demography, influence groups. Strategies for Ukraine" research, conducted by the Centre for Research of Russia and the Occupied Territories and Dilova Stolytsia newspaper.

It is noted that the main factor that affects the death rates in the region is the outflow of young population. In this regard, in the occupied territories of the Donetsk and the Luhansk oblasts, the birth rate has significantly decreased and the number of elderly people has increased in percentage correlation, and the death rate among people of this age category is higher.

Moreover, the death rate in the occupied territories has increased because of the terror of the occupation authorities, a sharp deterioration in medical care and a shortage of medicines.

In 2017, the research said, this was accompanied by a rapid decline in the living standards of the local population as a result of the mass closure of "nationalized" enterprises and the deterioration of ecological situation as a result of mines' flooding.

As noted in the research, according to the statistics of the occupation "authorities", on the part of the Donetsk oblast, controlled by the militants, the death rate in 2016 was 15 per 1000 residents. This is only a shade higher than in the peaceful regions of Ukraine according to the State Statistics Committee (14.7 per 1000 residents). However, even with such a clearly underestimated mortality, the rate of natural increase (the difference between birth rate and death rate) in the occupied part of the Donetsk oblast in 2016 turned out to be almost minus 10 per 1000 residents. According to the UN statistics, there is no such a bad value of this rate in any country in the world. In peaceful regions of Ukraine, this indicator was minus 4.5 per 1000 residents

"The real death rate in the occupied territories may exceed 20 per 1000 residents. So the rate of natural increase may have the value of minus 15 per 1000 residents or even worse. The situation will worsen every year: the migration outflow of youth will continue, the birth rate will fall, the proportion of children and young people decline, at the same time, the proportion of elderly people and mortality will increase", - the research said.