Remittances from guest workers make up a significant share of the country's GDP
In terms of total remittances, Ukrainian migrants in the CIS are second only to their counterparts from Russia, who sent $13.8 billion home. In 2006, Ukrainians even surpassed Turks, who are employed worldwide in construction projects and sent less than $7.4 billion to their homeland.
According to Verkhovna Rada Commissioner Nina Karpacheva, currently every fifth active (working) citizen of Ukraine is working abroad. In total, this is 5 to 7 million people. At the same time, only about 500,000 people work abroad legally. Overall, out of the country's 47 million inhabitants, 28 million are of working age. The huge number of those who have left has even given rise to a new term: 'zarobitchans' – people who earn a living outside the country.
According to the International Center for Policy Studies, the most popular destination for Ukrainian citizens who prefer to earn a living abroad is Russia (as construction workers and drivers in the Moscow suburbs and at oil-producing enterprises in Tyumen). According to various data, between 1 and 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens work there, most often in construction, retail trade, or transport.
Second place is occupied by neighboring Poland, where 300,000 Ukrainians go annually for agricultural work. They are followed by Spain (200-250 thousand – mainly men on construction sites), Italy (250 thousand – women caring for children and the elderly). Approximately 100,000 Ukrainian citizens each work in Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Greece.
If the average salary in Ukraine is currently $200, then abroad one can earn from €500 to €.1000. People send the lion's share of these funds home.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, the volume of migration capital that entered Ukraine through the banking system in 2006 amounted to about $3 billion. Another $4 billion came through specialized money transfer systems. At the same time, officials say that the actual volumes of funds transferred by Ukrainian guest workers are significantly larger – about $21 billion, since most migrant workers send money through acquaintances.
According to a survey conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, in 2004 every third Ukrainian would like to emigrate from Ukraine to another country. 7.7% named Russia as a possible country to move to, 7.4% – Germany, 3.9% – Canada, 3.8% – USA, 1.8% – France, 1.2% – UK, 1.2% – Israel, 0.9% – other former USSR states. Mostly young people with higher education consider emigration.
Furthermore, according to a survey conducted by the Kyiv Institute of Management Problems in December 2006, 49.6% of Ukrainians would like to work abroad. Among them, 14.7% of respondents chose Russia, 9.3% – the USA or Canada, 3.4% – Poland, 15.5% – another European country.
In total, according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development - a specialized UN agency, most remittances from migrants went to India. Citizens of that country who went to work abroad sent $24.5 billion to their families and relatives at home. Next come Mexico ($24.2 billion), China ($21 billion), and the Philippines ($14.6 billion). Russia took fifth place in this list with $13.7 billion (1.4% of the country's GDP). In Moldova, remittances from guest workers account for 31.4% of the national economy.