Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border increased by 1.6% to 778,000 during the week of August 2-8, setting a new record for wartime: last year, the highest passenger traffic was also recorded in August, but amounted to 737,000.
According to data from the State Border Service on Facebook, the outbound flow in the tenth week of summer increased from 367,000 to 376,000, while the inbound flow increased from 399,000 to 401,000.
Last weekend, 123,000-129,000 border crossings were recorded daily, and this Saturday, 120,000.
The number of vehicles that passed through checkpoints this week increased from 141,000 to 142,000, while the flow of vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo decreased slightly, from 538 to 570.
“With the start of the summer season, passenger traffic through checkpoints in the Lviv region has increased by 40%, and on weekends, the load increases even more – by an average of 16% compared to weekdays,” the
Western Regional Administration of the State Border Service said in a statement.
According to the report, the busiest checkpoints are Krakivets, Shehyni, and Ustyluh, with average traffic recorded at the checkpoints in Hrushev, Ugryniv, and Rava-Ruska, while the least busy are Smilnytsia and Nyzhankovychi.
This Sunday, as of 12:00, according to the State Border Service, the longest queue of 60 cars was at the Ustyluh checkpoint. Thirty-five cars were waiting to cross the border at the Hrushev checkpoint, 30 at the Uhryniv checkpoint, 25 at the Krakivets checkpoint, and 10 at the Shehyni checkpoint.
At the border with Hungary, the longest queue of 30 cars was at the Luzhanka crossing, while at the Vilok and Dzvinove checkpoints there were 20 cars each, at Kosyno there were 15, and at Tisa there were 5.
At the border with Slovakia, 35 and 25 cars were waiting for inspection at the Uzhhorod and Malyi Berezny checkpoints, respectively, while at the border with Romania, there were queues of 60 cars at the Porubne checkpoint and 15 at the Dyakove checkpoint.
The total number of people crossing the border this year is 5.7% higher than last year: during the same seven days last year, 356,000 people left Ukraine and 380,000 entered, and the flow of cars was also lower – 137,000.
As reported, from May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the start of the war, was replaced by an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022, and amounted to 409,000 people. However, since the end of 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 those leaving exceeded the number of those entering. In total, from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war, it reached 223,000 people.
During the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings to leave Ukraine, according to the State Border Service, exceeded the number of crossings to enter by 25,000, during the third year by 187,000, and since the beginning of the fourth year by 128,000, of which 108,000 were seasonal since the beginning of summer.
As Deputy Minister of Economy Serhiy Sobolev noted in early March 2023, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home results in a 0.5% increase in GDP.
In its July inflation report, the National Bank of Ukraine worsened its migration forecast: while in April it expected a net inflow of 0.2 million people to Ukraine in 2026, it now forecasts a net outflow of 0.2 million, which corresponds to this year’s estimate of net outflow. “Net returns will only begin in 2027 (about 0.1 million people, compared to 0.5 million in the previous forecast),” the NBU added. In absolute terms, the National Bank estimates the number of migrants currently remaining abroad at about 5.8 million.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of July 31, 2025, was estimated at 5.115 million (as of July 1 – 5.083 million), and worldwide – at 5.676 million (5.643 million).
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data for April this year, there are 3.757 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.669 million at the end of last year.
