Gomel's population dropped below 500 thousand
The last time this happened was in 2010.
Gomel. Photo from social networks
As of January 1, 2026, the official population of Gomel — the second largest city in Belarus — was 499,853 people. This means that for the first time since 2010, the figure dropped below half a million people.
Gomel's population grew until the collapse of the USSR; as of 1989, the city had 512 thousand people. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the figure remained below the symbolic threshold, but it grew again in 2011.
The peak for Gomel was 2018 — almost 536 thousand people. And now the population decline has begun again.