Passenger traffic across Ukraine’s western border increased by another 1.3% during the week of July 18–24—to 770,000—following a 3.5% increase the previous week; with the number of people entering the country exceeding the number leaving for the fourth consecutive week, according to daily statistics from the State Border Guard Service monitored by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to this data, while the number of outbound border crossings rose to 376,000 from 373,000 the previous week, the number of inbound crossings rose to 394,000 from 387,000.
The number of vehicles passing through border checkpoints decreased slightly this week—to 144,000 from 145,000 last week—as did the number of vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo—to 443 from 459.
The heaviest outbound traffic is recorded on Friday and Saturday (56,000–59,000 per day), and the heaviest inbound traffic on Saturday and Monday (60,000–67,000), while the lowest outbound traffic is on Monday–Tuesday (50,000 each day), and the lowest inbound traffic is on Tuesday–Thursday (45,000–49,000).
According to the State Border Guard Service, as of 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, the largest number of passenger cars—30—were waiting to cross the border with Poland at the “Ustyluh” border crossing point (BCP). There were small lines at the “Ugryniv” and “Shehyni” checkpoints—15 and 10 vehicles, respectively—while 5 buses had gathered at the “Krakovets” checkpoint.
At the border with Hungary, 10–15 vehicles were waiting to cross at the “Luzhanka,” “Vylok,” and “Tisa” checkpoints.
At the border with Slovakia, there was a line of 15 vehicles at the “Uzhhorod” checkpoint and 10 at the “Malyi Berezny” checkpoint. At the border with Romania, 10 vehicles had gathered at the “Porubne” checkpoint, while there were no lines at the border with Moldova.
Last year, passenger traffic across the border during this week was slightly lower—753,000—though the number of people entering the country was higher—384,000 compared to 369,000. The number of vehicles last year was also lower—138,000.
Last year, passenger traffic increased slightly in the following weeks and peaked at 778,000 people per week in the first half of August, after which it gradually decreased in the second half of the month and then dropped sharply in the first half of September—with the start of the new school year.
As previously reported, starting May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine—which had begun with the start of the war—turned into an inflow that lasted until September 23, 2022, totaling 409,000 people. However, starting in late September—possibly influenced by news of mobilization in Russia and “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied territories, followed by massive shelling of energy infrastructure—the number of people leaving exceeded the number of those entering. In total, from late September 2022 through the first anniversary of the full-scale war, this figure reached 223,000 people.
In the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings out of Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service, exceeded the number of crossings into the country by 25,000; in the third year, by 187,000; in the fourth year, by 221,000; and since the start of the fifth year—by 139,000, of which 126,000 have occurred since the beginning of summer.
In its April inflation report, the National Bank maintained its estimate of last year’s migration from Ukraine at 0.2 million due to the deterioration of the security situation at the end of the year and the easing of exit rules for young people, but noted that in 2024 this figure will be less than 0.5 million. The NBU continues to forecast a net outflow of 0.2 million in 2026, while net returns, according to its forecast, will begin in 2027 and amount to about 0.1 million people, increasing to 0.5 million people in 2028.
According to UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of June 30, 2026, stood at 5.159 million, and globally at 5.687 million, compared to 5.213 million and 5.687 million, respectively, as of April 30.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data as of July 2026, there are 3.80 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.70 million as of January of this year and 3.34 million as of July 2025.
