Fewer than UN estimates: How many Ukrainians haven't returned home amid war
Crossing of border (Photo: Getty Images)
Since the beginning of the war, only 2.4 million Ukrainians have left Ukraine and not returned. This is indicated by the data from the State Border Guard Service regarding the number of people who officially crossed the border.
The proportion of people who have not returned from abroad has decreased significantly in 2023, according to data from the OpenDataBot platform.
In the first half of 2022, 2.6 million citizens left Ukraine and did not return, while in the first 6 months of 2023, 230,000 individuals did not return. This is 11 times less than the same months last year.
During the second half of 2022, people returned more actively than they left – 149,000 more citizens arrived than left Ukraine.
In total, since the beginning of the war, 2.7 million individuals have left Ukraine and not returned. Of these, 2.4 million are Ukrainian citizens, and the rest are foreigners.
As of March and April of this year, the number of Ukrainians arriving in Ukraine exceeded those leaving the country. Starting from May, emigration began to outweigh immigration again, coinciding with the beginning of the summer vacation period.
In the first half of the year, the share of Ukrainians who left and did not return was 3%, compared to 27.5% in the same period last year. Throughout 2022, this figure was 13.6%.
Starting from February 2023, more foreigners began arriving in Ukraine. In the first 6 months of 2023, 12,200 more foreign citizens entered Ukrainian territory compared to those who left.
The data provided by the State Border Guard Service differs from the figures of the United Nations, where 6.24 million Ukrainian refugees were counted.
Meanwhile, according to Eurostat, there are more than 4 million Ukrainian refugees in EU countries.
