Ukraine Faces Demographic Collapse After the War, Experts Warn

After the war, millions of Ukrainians may go abroad for work or family reunification, creating catastrophic demographic challenges and requiring safe, legal migration management.

1–1.5 million Ukrainians will go abroad to work after the war in Ukraine, says Vasyl Voskoboinyk, head of the Office of Migration Policy.

I would add: around 2 million men will leave to reunite with their families who left during the first months of the full-scale invasion. Another 1.5 million working-age people will leave if the wise people once again elect Zelenskyy. The demographic trends and prospects for the country are catastrophic.

Serhiy Pohrebetskyi reveals.

“Vasyl Voskoboinyk: Our estimate is roughly one to one and a half million people who may go abroad to work. On the one hand, I would even welcome such pendulum labor migration — the kind we had before the military actions began — when people would leave for three, six months, or even a year to work and earn money. These funds were sent back to Ukraine to support their families who remained here. Later, they would return, find jobs in Ukraine, and continue working here.

I consider labor migration a benefit compared to the alternative, where people, after the war, gather and leave to join their families who have already settled abroad. Family reunification would then happen abroad, and this is a far worse scenario for us than simple labor migration.

That is why I take a very lenient view of labor migration. I understand that it gives people an opportunity to earn money for a certain period, support their families, while still keeping their roots in Ukraine. Therefore, our country and our authorities still need to prepare for the fact that such moves by Ukrainians will happen. People will go abroad. We need to think about how to protect them while they are abroad, how to create conditions so that they go legally, work officially, and still return to Ukraine. This is a significant challenge.”

EMPR