Even in case of obtaining citizenship, 79% of Ukrainians would not move to the USA or Europe - KMIS

About 80% of Ukrainians would not move to the United States or Europe even if they were granted citizenship, according to a survey conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, UNN reports .

Details

When asked whether you would move to the United States or the EU for permanent residence if you were granted citizenship without conditions, 79% of Ukrainians said they would stay at home. At the same time, 19% would move to another country.

Analysts noted that in September 2022 , only 7% of Ukrainians said they would move to another country.

In , the KIIS explains that the decline was due to the fact that some people who wanted to move did so against the backdrop of the invasion, as well as the growth of patriotism and optimism about the future of Ukraine.

At the same time, in October 2020, 28% of all adult Ukrainians were ready to move abroad, while 69% wanted to stay at home.

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The survey data shows that among Ukrainians aged 18 to 29 in 2020, almost half (46%) would like to move abroad. By September 2022, the figure dropped to 13%, and then by September 2024, it rose to 26%.

Although the growth is significant, 74% of Ukrainians under the age of 30 still want to stay in Ukraine. A similar trend is typical for people aged 30 to 44, among whom 75% do not want to move from Ukraine

AddendumAddendum

The KIIS emphasizes that the outflow of the population, especially young Ukrainians, has been a chronic Ukrainian problem since independence, which has become especially acute after the full-scale invasion.

The demographic situation in Ukraine is certainly complicated, as stated by leading Ukrainian experts and foreign institutions. 

The results of the survey show that in fact, the majority of Ukrainians (in particular, Ukrainian men of mobilization age and younger/middle-aged women) want to stay in Ukraine despite all the difficulties and risks. The image of a young man crossing the Tisza River or a young woman leaving for a better life in Europe, which is common in the media, is not representative of men and women in Ukraine. Of course, there are problems, but Ukrainians keep faith in Ukraine, keep faith in a better future, and demonstrate their willingness to stay and work to achieve their dream future

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For reference

The survey was conducted during September 1-6, 2024, by telephone interviews based on a random sample of mobile phone numbers in all regions of Ukraine (government-controlled territory). A total of 1022 respondents were interviewed. 

The survey was conducted with adults (aged 18 and older) citizens of Ukraine who, at the time of the survey, resided in the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Government of Ukraine.

The sample did not include residents of the territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities (although some respondents were IDPs who moved from the occupied territories), and the survey was not conducted with citizens who left for abroad after February 24, 2022.

Formally, under normal circumstances, the statistical error of such a sample (with a probability of 0.95 and taking into account the design effect of 1.3) did not exceed 4.1% for indicators close to 50%, 3.5% for indicators close to 25%, 2.5% for indicators close to 10%, and 1.8% for indicators close to 5%. In the conditions of war, in addition to this formal error, a certain systematic deviation is added. (...) In general, we believe that the results obtained still retain high representativeness and allow us to analyze public sentiment quite reliably

Recall

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga announced that he is working to create conditions for the return of Ukrainians. The Foreign Ministry is working with the European Commission to develop strategies to encourage the return of citizens.