Nearly same number of Ukrainians who left country in 2023 returned – Opendatabot
The first 11 months of 2023 saw over 32 million border crossings in Ukraine, with only a 1% difference between the number of departures and returns, the open data platform OpenDataBot reported on Jan. 3, citing data from the Ukrainian Border Guard.
During this period, 14 million people returned to Ukraine, and 14.1 million left, resulting in a difference of 142,000 people. This is precisely the number of crossings of the state border by Ukrainians, the platform said.
This marks a significant decrease (15 times less) compared to the first year (2022) of the full-scale Russian invasion when the difference was 2.2 million people. The trend shifted since July 2023, with peaks in returns noted in April (+114,000 citizens) and August (+144,000).
Oleksiy Antypovych, director of the Rating Sociological Group, earlier said in an interview with BBC Ukraine that although most Ukrainian refugees express a desire to return to Ukraine, only about a third of them are expected to do so.
Most Ukrainian refugees would return to the country if its largest cities had comprehensive air defense systems, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with the UK tabloid newspaper the Sun on Nov. 20.
According to a sociological survey by the Rating Group, 49% of Ukrainians who relocated to European countries after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion did not wish to permanently stay abroad.
The survey revealed that almost one in five Ukrainians is uncertain about whether to return or stay, while the remainder are contemplating permanent residency abroad.
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