Passenger traffic across Ukraine’s western border this week—during the fall school break, from October 24 to 29—increased by 9.2%, reaching 568,000.
According to daily statistics from the State Border Guard Service, as tracked by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, the number of outbound border crossings rose by 13.2% to 300,000, while the number of inbound crossings increased by 5.1% to 268,000.
The number of vehicles passing through border checkpoints also increased to 131,000 from 124,000, while the number of vehicles carrying humanitarian cargo fell to 382 from 490.
The highest outbound traffic was recorded on Saturday (53,000 per day), and the highest inbound traffic on Sunday (43,000), while the lowest outbound traffic was on Tuesday and Thursday (38,000 each), and the lowest inbound traffic on Wednesday (35,000).
According to the State Border Guard Service, as of 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, the lines of vehicles at the border for outbound travel were minimal. The longest line of passenger cars waiting to cross the border with Poland was at the “Ustyluh” checkpoint—20 vehicles. At the “Hrushiv,” “Krakivets,” “Shehyni,” and “Nyzhankovychi” checkpoints, there were 10 cars in line at each.
At the border with Slovakia, the line at the “Malyi Berezny” checkpoint consisted of 3 cars, and at the “Uzhhorod” checkpoint—20.
At the border with Hungary, 18 cars were waiting at the “Tisa” checkpoint, and 10 at the “Luzhanka” checkpoint.
At the border with Moldova and Romania, according to the State Border Guard Service, there were no lines as of Saturday morning.
Last year, passenger traffic across the border during this week increased by 10.3% and was slightly higher—580,000—with outbound traffic also slightly exceeding inbound traffic.
The following week, passenger traffic fell by 10.5%, and over the course of the week, it dropped by another 8.7%.
As previously reported, starting May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine—which began with the start of the war—gave way to an inflow that lasted until September 23, 2022, totaling 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 people leaving has 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 beginning of the fifth year, by 112,000.
In its July inflation report, the National Bank maintained its estimate of 0.3 million people migrating from Ukraine last year due to the deteriorating security situation at the end of the year and the easing of exit rules for young people, but noted that this figure would be less than 0.5 million in 2024. 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 for July 2026, there were 3.80 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.70 million in January of this year and 3.34 million in July 2025.
BORDER, MIGRATION, PASSENGER TRAFFIC, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, UKRAINE
