Odessa has lost ground among Ukraine's largest cities

Over the past seven years, Odesa has lost about 93,000 residents, and the city’s population now stands at 907,000. Lviv has surpassed both Odesa and Dnipro.

This is according to an infographic by Forbes Ukraine.

According to the publication’s estimates, approximately 1 million people lived in Odesa in 2019. As of mid-2026, the population stood at 907,000—a decrease of about 9%.

Among the cities listed in the infographic, Odesa now ranks fifth in population—behind Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Dnipro. In 2019, it was fourth, behind Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro.

According to this data, the gap between Odesa and Dnipro has widened from 10,000 to 68,000 people. Odesa is 79,000 short of Lviv, which has 986,000 residents.

According to Forbes Ukraine’s calculations, only Kyiv and Kharkiv currently exceed the one-million mark. Dnipro and Odesa, which had about 1 million residents in 2019, have fallen below that threshold.

Kyiv’s population grew from 3.69 million to 3.79 million people. Kharkiv, on the other hand, lost 363,000 residents—from 1.51 million to 1.15 million, or approximately 24%.

Among the cities featured in the infographic, western cities saw the largest increases. Lviv grew by 299,000 people, or approximately 44%. Zaporizhzhia, according to estimates, lost 211,000 residents, or nearly 30%.

Population changes in 2019–2026, in thousands:

Infographic by Forbes Ukraine

Forbes Ukraine noted that these figures are model estimates, not census results. Government data and statistics from the State Statistics Service were used for the 2019 calculations.

Current estimates for 2026 are based on calculations of the population in territories under Ukraine’s control, broken down by region and taking into account water consumption and birth rates.

Data for cities were adjusted according to the share of the urban population in each region.

Ірина Глухова