Passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border in the penultimate week of Christmas 2025, from December 20 to 26, jumped by another 21.9% to 685,000, causing queues at the border with Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, according to data from the State Border Service.
According to them, the number of border crossings for departure increased to 329,000 from 279,000 a week earlier, while the increase for entry was even more significant – to 356,000 from 283,000.
At the same time, the number of vehicles that passed through checkpoints this week also decreased to 129,000 from 140,000 a week earlier, and the flow of vehicles with humanitarian cargo decreased to 440 from 516.
While before Christmas the flow of vehicles entering the country significantly exceeded the flow of vehicles leaving, the picture changed with the start of school holidays and the approach of the New Year. This Saturday, the number of crossings out of the country was 53,000 compared to 36,000 into the country, but overall, the flow decreased significantly compared to the previous Saturday, when 62-63,000 people crossed the border in each direction.
According to the State Border Service, as of 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, there were no queues at the border with Romania and Moldova, while at the borders with three other countries they remained, but were not as long as before Christmas and last weekend.
At the border with Poland, most passenger cars were waiting to cross at the Ustyluh checkpoint – 70. The queue at the Uhryniv and Krakivets checkpoints consisted of 30 cars each, and at the Rava-Ruska and Hrushev checkpoints – 20 cars each. At the same time, 25 buses accumulated at the Krakivets checkpoint and 13 at the Shehyni checkpoint.
Forty cars were waiting to cross the border with Slovakia at the Uzhhorod checkpoint and 25 at the Maly Berezny checkpoint.
At the border with Hungary, the longest queue was at the Tisa checkpoint – 15 cars, while 10 cars accumulated at the Luzhanka and Vilok checkpoints.
The total number of border crossings this week is slightly higher than last year. At that time, 325,000 people left Ukraine in 7 days, and 332,000 entered, and the flow of cars was also lower – 117,000.
Last year, a 12.5% increase in passenger traffic was recorded during this week, and during the New Year week, it fell by 22.7%.
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.
In 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, in the third year by 187,000, and since the beginning of the fourth year by 176,000.
As Serhiy Sobolev, then Deputy Minister of Economy, 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 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 the estimate of the net outflow this year. “Net return will only begin in 2027 (about 0.1 million people, compared to 0.5 million in the previous forecast),” the NBU added and confirmed this forecast at the end of October. 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 December 11, 2025, was estimated at 5.311 million (5.331 million as of November 14), and 5.860 million (5.850 million) worldwide.
In Ukraine itself, according to the latest UN data for September this year, there are 3.694 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), compared to 3.340 million in July.
BORDER, CHRISTMAS, PASSENGER TRAFFIC
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