About three million Ukrainians have not returned from abroad: statistics

Ukrainians continue to leave the country

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion by Russia, more than three million citizens of Ukraine have left the country and have not returned. These data are provided by the State Border Guard Service for the first half of 2025. This is reported by 'Glavkom' citing 'Opendatabot'.

In total, over the first six months of 2025, the State Border Guard Service recorded more than 16.4 million border crossings (total departures and returns). The vast majority of these crossings - 85%, or 14.08 million - are accounted for by Ukrainians. It is important to note that these data only pertain to official border crossings; cases of illegal crossing, for example, across the Tisza River, or leaving through temporarily occupied territories, cannot be reliably tracked.

In the first half of 2025, 7.17 million citizens left Ukraine, while 6.92 million returned. Thus, this year, the country was left by 250 thousand more people than returned. However, this difference is 1.6 times smaller than in the same period of the previous year when it amounted to 404 thousand.

Regular migrations

On average, each month Ukrainians cross the border 2.35 million times. The fewest crossings were recorded in February (1.78 million), while the most were in June (3.13 million). June, July, and August are traditionally peak months for border crossings, as this period accounts for a third of all annual figures.

We remind you that in Germany, a discussion is gaining momentum regarding social assistance payments to conscripted Ukrainian men. The CSU party expresses dissatisfaction that more than 150 thousand Ukrainian men of conscription age receive support from the German government amounting to about €1.3 billion per year.

In the first half of 2025, more than three million citizens of Ukraine left the country, going abroad and not returning. The data provided by the State Border Guard Service indicate a continuation of the emigration trend of Ukrainians. The average monthly number of border crossings reaches 2.35 million times, with peak figures in June. At the same time, a discussion has arisen in Germany about social assistance payments to conscripted Ukrainians.