Ukrainians have spent billions of dollars abroad since 2022. The money was spent both for personal purposes and business trips. Find out on which goods and in which countries Ukrainians spent money most often

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In recent years, the topic of consumer behaviour of Ukrainians abroad has been taking on new contours. In the context of the war and the simplification of the visa regime, more and more Ukrainians prefer to live, rest and conduct business trips abroad. This trend is accompanied by significant non-cash financial flows that the NBU can track. RBС-Ukraine publishes NBU data that makes it clear what Ukrainian citizens spend abroad and how much.

The publication notes that the NBU statistics do not distinguish between the expenditures of Ukrainians who were abroad before the full-scale war and those who went there after it began.

How much do Ukrainians spend abroad?

Before the war started in January 2022, Ukrainian citizens spent $698 million abroad. The lion's share of these funds, namely $509 million, is identified by the National Bank as funds spent on business trips, and $189 million was spent for personal purposes.

In February 2022, Ukrainians abroad spent $812 million, of which $545 million was spent on business trips and $267 million on personal needs.

Already in March, after the outbreak of the war, there were changes. The amount of spending by Ukrainians outside the country doubled, reaching $1.627 billion. At the same time, business expenditures decreased to $408 million compared to the previous months, while personal expenditures increased almost fivefold to $1.219 billion. Thus, in March 2022, the personal spending of Ukrainians abroad exceeded one billion dollars.

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In April 2022, Ukrainians' personal expenditure abroad continued to grow, reaching $1.334 billion, with business travel spending continuing to decline to $327 million.

Continuing the trend, in May, the total amount of spending by Ukrainians outside the country increased to $1.927 billion. A significant portion of this, $1.503 billion, was spent on personal needs.

In January 2023, the total expenditures of Ukrainians abroad exceeded $2 billion, the vast majority of which were for personal purposes.

The situation changed again in March, but in 2023. Then the volume of spending began to decline as many Ukrainians began to return home.

What do Ukrainians spend money on abroad?

According to the NBU, Ukrainians most often spend money on groceries - 34% of all expenditures at the end of 2023. Also, a significant portion of the money from cards was spent on cafes and restaurants - 21%, if we talk about the 4th quarter of last year.

In the same period, Ukrainians spent 19% of their money on pharmacies. People spent less on clothes, shoes, petrol stations (fuel and related items), transport and hotels.

As for the countries where these funds were spent, the leaders in such transactions were Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and Italy.

We remind you! Ukrainians employed in Poland compensate for the assistance provided to refugees with their taxes. At the same time, the overall impact of Ukrainian citizens on the economy of the neighbouring country is becoming more and more noticeable after two years of war. Read here to find out how Poland's GDP is growing thanks to Ukrainians, how much tax they have paid and what percentage of refugees are employed in the Polish labour market.

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