As evidenced by statistical data published by the State Migration Service, Ukrainians are increasingly traveling to the West, and less to the countries of the former Soviet Union
According to Deutsche Welle, the most popular destination for permanent residence became Israel, where 2,931 people left. In second place is Russia with 2,195 people. Note that in the first case, pensioners accounted for only 17 percent of those leaving, while in the second – more than 55 percent. The third step of the conditional popularity rating was taken by the USA (1,548 people), followed by Hungary (1,387 people, 1,350 of them pensioners) and Germany (1,079 people). Most Ukrainians returned from Russia – 503 people.
Ukraine's northern neighbor also became a less popular destination for short-term trips. In 2011-12, Russia was the country Ukrainians visited most often, but in 2013 and 2014, Ukrainians traveled most often to Poland. In 2015, Poland surpasses Russia by 30.4 percent in terms of number of entries by Ukrainians – 35.1 million versus 26.9 million. Third place – Moldova with almost 11 million entries of Ukrainians, and fourth – Hungary with almost 10 million entries.
In total, in 2015, Ukrainian citizens traveled abroad 23.3 million times, which is 700 thousand more than in 2014, but 630 thousand less than the record figure of 2013.