Демографічний розвиток населення України у вимірі показників дитячої смертності: гендерні особливості та європейський контекст

Abstract

У статті досліджено тенденції дитячої смертності в Україні, здійснено просторову диференціацію показника за регіонами та визначено гендерні диспропорції та проведено порівняльний аналіз із показниками ЄС. Виявлено ключові чинники, що впливають на рівень смертності серед дітей, та оцінено зміни гендерних нерівностей у національному та європейському контексті.

The issue of the demographic development of the population of Ukraine is multifaceted and in terms of mortality rates acts as an important indicator of the demographic crisis and depopulation trends in the country. In this context, it is appropriate to study mortality in two interrelated dimensions: age-related, characterized by infant mortality rates as the most sensitive indicator of early loss, and integral, represented by life expectancy at birth, which accumulates the impact of mortality in all age groups. This approach makes it possible to provide a comprehensive vision of demographic processes and deepen the analytical assessment of their modern transformations. The purpose of the study is to analyze infant mortality trends in Ukraine, identify gender disparities and compare their manifestations in the European space. In Ukraine, the infant mortality rate is included in the list of monitoring indicators of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, used to assess the level of socio-economic development of regions. Throughout 1990‒2023, there is a clear trend towards a decrease in the infant mortality rate in Ukraine. As of 2024, the infant mortality rate was 8.7‰, which makes it possible for Ukraine to rank 141st in the ranking of countries in the world. The absolute minimum infant mortality rate was recorded in 2020, when the rate decreased to 6.7‰. At the same time, even in this relatively favorable period, the values remained higher than the average indicators characteristic of European countries (5‰). Analysis of the indicator by gender shows a consistently higher infant mortality rate among boys (12.3‰), while the infant mortality rate among girls was 6.3‰. The differentiation of this indicator within the territory of Ukraine shows the excess of mortality of boys in all regions of Ukraine, except for Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Khmelnytskyi regions. During almost the entire studied period, infant mortality rates lower than average statistical values were observed in Ternopil, Poltava, Kyiv, Vinnytsia regions, while higher than average ‒ in Rivne, Kherson, Ivano Frankivsk, and Donetsk regions. The positive dynamics of the decrease in the infant mortality rate can be traced in all regions of Ukraine without exception. At the same time, the fastest rate of reduction of the indicator is recorded in Ivano-Frankivsk, Kirovohrad, Odesa, Vinnytsia regions (reduction rate of 59.5‒65.9%). Overall, the rate has more than halved in more than 30 years, which is in line with global trends, but still exceeds the average level of European Union countries. High infant mortality rates in Ukraine in the early 1990s were caused by a complex of systemic crisis factors of an economic, medical and social nature. Instead, their decline in the twenty-first century was the result of economic stabilization, reform of the health system and the development of preventive medicine. A key feature of today's changes is that the greatest reduction has been due to a reduction in deaths from managed causes, suggesting an increase in the effectiveness of the health system and social policies.