Editor’s Note: The following is is a report of the Ukraine Crisis Media Center on the 26 figures that best demonstrate the changes that have occurred in Ukraine since it became independent in 1991.
- Ukrainian language becomes fashionable – 60 percent of Ukrainians consider it their native language.
- According to UNESCO, Ukraine is one of the 10 countries with the highest level of literacy.
- The number of Ukrainians who go to study abroad and then turn back home to apply their knowledge is growing. Over 46 thousand Ukrainians study abroad.
- Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska was awarded the Salem Prize 2016 for an internationally important discovery – the one that fellow mathematicians have been trying to resolve for centuries.
- Ukrainians appreciate arts and cultural heritage – the number of museums increased from 214 to 576 within the independence times.
- Ukrainians started buying more domestically-published books. The number of printed publications has grown from 7046 to 21330 in the 26 years.
- In the ranking Doing Business Ukraine has reached the top position among the ex-Soviet Bloc countries.
- Ukrainians live longer – in 1991 the average life expectancy constituted 69 years, today it’s 71.
- The population number has decreased by almost 9 million within the independence times.
- In the first month alone after the visa free regime with the EU came in force in June 2017 over 95 thousand Ukrainians crossed the border of the EU member states without the need for a visa.
