There are only eight Belarusian cities that are not dying out. Here's the full list
And there are also seven urban-type settlements where the population is also increasing.
Chechersk Town Hall. Photo: Wikipedia / Vladimir Sorokin
The population of Belarus decreased by 53 thousand people in 2025. The number of residents decreased in Minsk, and in the vast majority of cities. But there are still a few positive exceptions.
There were only eight cities that grew last year:
| No. | City | as of 1.1.2025 | as of 1.1.2026 | Increase |
| 1 | Grodno | 363 718 | 364 902 | +1184 |
| 2 | Brest | 346 061 | 347 138 | +1077 |
| 3 | Smolevichi | 23 721 | 24 402 | +681 |
| 4 | Ostrovets | 15 265 | 15 530 | +265 |
| 5 | Chechersk | 8 926 | 8 958 | +32 |
| 6 | Fanipol | 18 684 | 19 006 | +22 |
| 7 | Cherven | 10 595 | 10 617 | +22 |
| 8 | Dubrovno | 6 945 | 6 946 | +1 |
The leaders in population growth are the western regional centers. Cities around Minsk are also in the black. And also Ostrovets, whose population has been steadily growing since the construction of the nuclear power plant.
Let's note Malorita, where exactly the same 12,593 people are holding steady as a year ago.
In addition, it is worth mentioning seven urban-type settlements that also grew in 2025.
| No. | Urban-type settlement | as of 1.1.2025 | as of 1.1.2026 | Increase |
| 1 | Machulishchy | 10653 | 10869 | +236 |
| 2 | Mir | 2248 | 2290 | +42 |
| 3 | Domachevo | 1136 | 1162 | +26 |
| 4 | Gorodeya | 3563 | 3576 | +13 |
| 5 | Kozlovshchina (Dzyatlava district) | 1437 | 1442 | +5 |
| 6 | Starobin | 6417 | 6418 | +1 |
| 7 | Ivenets | 3805 | 3806 | +1 |
The situation with Machulishchy is simple — one newly populated multi-storey building is enough to achieve such a population increase. Machulishchy is only 5 km from the Minsk Ring Road, so the settlement can be perceived as an extension of Minsk.
In addition, it is likely that the population of "villages" around Minsk, such as Kopishche, which is essentially part of the capital but formally belongs to the Minsk district, traditionally increased. However, rural settlements are not included in Belstat's annual report. Overall, the population of the Minsk district grew by 6500 people.