70% of Ukrainians would not move to another country if borders were opened – survey. INFOGRAPHIC

70% of Ukrainian citizens would not move to another country, even if borders were opened.

This is according to a survey conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation in cooperation with the Razumkov Center’s sociological service, as reported by Censor.NET.

Among the respondents, 25% of men expressed a desire to move to another country for permanent residence if borders were open to all population categories, compared to 17% of women.

“Regarding the desire to move abroad for permanent residence if borders were opened, the most frequent responses came from respondents aged 18 to 29 (33%). The older the age group of the respondent, the smaller the proportion of those wishing to move abroad for permanent residence. Among respondents aged 30 to 39, 27% wanted to move abroad, 23% of those aged 40 to 49, 16% of those aged 50 to 59, and 9% of respondents aged 60 and over.

26.5% of respondents who lived in the eastern regions before the full-scale invasion agreed that they would like to move abroad for permanent residence if the border were open to all population categories. Among respondents who lived in the western regions before the invasion, 23% expressed a desire to move abroad for permanent residence. Among those who lived in central regions, 19% wanted to move abroad, and 12% in the southern regions,” the study says.

For those who would like to move abroad if borders were opened, the main motivations for leaving are the lack of opportunities for personal development (30.5%), the threat to life due to ongoing hostilities (29%), insufficient social support from the state (29%), the desire to reunite with family (26%), the wish to bring dependent relatives abroad (23%), and the inability to find a job that meets the respondent’s requirements (21%).

The survey was conducted from November 29 to December 14, 2024, in areas controlled by the Ukrainian government and where no hostilities were taking place. A total of 1,518 respondents aged 18 and over were surveyed using the face-to-face method. The theoretical sampling error does not exceed 2.6%.

Bohdan Rusinko