The most impactful factors that affect the decision of staying in Europe or returning to Ukraine are opportunities in Europe, education, and housing affordability. 

Every fifth Ukrainian is still deciding whether to return home or stay in Europe. 49% of Ukrainians who moved and became refugees after the Russian full-scale invasion, and almost 40% of those who moved before want to return. The rest are considering staying in the country that has accepted them for good. This is data from the research conducted by the sociological group Rating and released on September 4. 

“An opportunity to stay depends not only on their wishes but on other circumstances: opportunities, job availability, residence permit, education opportunities for children, and housing affordability. So it’s hard to say that this or that number of Ukrainians will stay or return to Ukraine.” 

The most impactful factors for choosing between living abroad and staying in Ukraine are European opportunities, education, and housing affordability/availability. The high level of bureaucracy and high tax rates in Europe have far less impact on this decision, just as the high level of corruption in Ukraine. 

One million refugees who moved abroad after the full-scale invasion have already returned to Ukraine, informed Ugochi Daniels, a Deputy Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IMO), in her interview with Hromadske Radio.  

Within the country, 3.7 million people have returned home. According to Daniels, the Ukrainian government has to engage another 4.5 million people to return to the country during the next ten years.

Read more 

  • More than a million Ukrainian refugees have returned home
  • Deaths and injuries reach 500,000 since Russian invasion of Ukraine began — NYT