Passenger traffic across the border has decreased by another 12%, according to the State Border Service data.

The passenger traffic across the Ukrainian border during the week of January 18 to 24 decreased by another 12% compared to the previous week, totaling 453,000. With the holiday season coming to an end, there was a net influx into Ukraine for the second consecutive week.

According to data from the State Border Guard Service on Facebook, the number of exits dropped from 245,000 to 220,000, while entries fell from 270,000 to 233,000.

The number of vehicles passing through border checkpoints decreased from 120,000 to 119,000, while the flow of cars carrying humanitarian aid increased from 558 to 586.

As noted by the State Border Guard Service, on Saturday, as of 21:00, there was a small queue of 10 passenger cars only at the "Ustyluh" checkpoint on the border with Poland, while three buses accumulated at the "Krakowiec" checkpoint on the same border.

The overall figures for border crossings by people in this week of 2025 are higher than last year's: during a similar week, 207,000 people left Ukraine and 198,000 entered, with the vehicle flow totaling 107,000. Last year, during this week, passenger traffic fell by 6.3%, while it stabilized at that level in the following two weeks.

As reported, since May 10, 2022, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine, which began with the onset of war, shifted to an influx that lasted until September 23, 2022, totaling 409,000 individuals. However, since the end of September, possibly influenced by news of mobilization in Russia and "pseudo-referendums" in occupied territories, followed by massive attacks on energy infrastructure, there has been a recorded excess of those leaving over those entering. This temporarily ceased in the second half of December to early January during the holiday period, but then resumed, totaling 223,000 people from the end of September 2022 to the first anniversary of the full-scale war.

In the second year of the full-scale war, the number of border crossings for exiting Ukraine, according to the State Border Guard Service, exceeded the number of entries by 25,000, and since the beginning of the third year, by an additional 201,000.

As noted by Deputy Minister of Economy Serhiy Sobolev in early March 2023, the return of every 100,000 Ukrainians home contributes 0.5% to GDP growth. The Ministry of Economy has projected the return of 1.5 million people to Ukraine in its macroeconomic forecast for 2024.

At the same time, the National Bank, in its October inflation report, again worsened the forecast for outflow from Ukraine in 2024 from 400,000 to 500,000. In absolute numbers, this indicates an increase in the number of migrants staying abroad in 2024 to 6.8 million. Meanwhile, the outflow estimate for 2025 has been reduced from 300,000 to 200,000.

According to updated data from UNHCR, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe was estimated at 6.303 million as of January 16, 2025, while the total worldwide figure reached 6.863 million, which is 49,000 more than on December 16.

Within Ukraine, according to the latest UN data, there are 3.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), with approximately 160,000 people relocated from frontline areas in the east and south between May and October 2024 due to intensified hostilities.

Crossings of Ukraine's western border, thousands:

Data: State Border Guard Service

Sources: https://www.facebook.com/zahidnuy.kordon

https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine#_ga=2.228732760.514168680.1646989952-176134281.1646551413