Passenger traffic across Ukraine's western border down 4.4% on March 7-13

MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax) - Passenger traffic across Ukraine's western border decreased 4.4% to 415,000 from March 7 to March 13 compared to the previous week, Ukrainian media said, citing the weekly data published by the State Border Service.

Passenger flows into and out of Ukraine were almost equal in the reporting period, with the number of outbound crossings declining to 209,000 from 224,000 a week ago, and the number of inbound crossings dropping to 206,000 from 210,000.

The number of outbound crossings from Ukraine had been larger than the number of inbound crossings for the previous four consecutive weeks.

The number of vehicles that passed through the border crossings fell from 119,000 to 118,000 over the week. The number of vehicles carrying humanitarian supplies also decreased from 544 to 530.

The National Bank of Ukraine projects the net outflow of people from Ukraine at 200,000 in 2026. The regulator expects the net return to start in 2027, when it is expected to stand at around 100,000 people, increasing to 500,000 people in 2028.

According to an update from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there were 5.924 million Ukrainian refugees worldwide as of February 19, 2026 (5.898 million as of January 16), including 5.375 million in Europe (5.349 million).

The UN's latest figures for January 2026 put the number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine at 3.7 million, versus 3.34 million in July and 3.76 million in April 2025.