News 26 July 2026 3.9 Million People Displaced in Ukraine as Families Struggle to Cope, IOM Report Finds

Kyiv/Geneva, 27 July 2026 - An estimated 3.9 million people remained internally displaced in Ukraine as of June 2026, according to a new report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). While the number of internally displaced people has stayed at around 12 per cent of the population since 2023, the report shows that the longer displacement persists, the more families are struggling to meet their basic needs.

Nearly seven in ten internally displaced people have now been away from home for more than two years, underscoring the increasingly protracted nature of displacement in Ukraine. New displacement is also still happening: an estimated 132,000 people were forced to leave their homes between January and June this year alone.

"Stable displacement figures should not be mistaken for stable living conditions," said Dejan Keserovic, Deputy Chief of Mission at IOM Ukraine. "Many displaced families are exhausting their savings, reducing essential expenses, including health care, and moving into less adequate housing as they try to meet their basic needs. Sustained support remains essential to help people regain stability and make informed, voluntary choices about their future."

The report found that 87 per cent of displaced households have had to take at least one difficult step to cope. The most common include using up savings (75%), cutting back on utilities (59%) and reducing health spending (53%). One in five households also reported moving to lower-quality housing, while 17 per cent have fallen behind on rent.

The pressure has been building steadily - last winter's harsh weather and long power and heating outages hit already-vulnerable families particularly hard.

Safety remains the biggest factor in people's decisions about the future: 82 per cent of internally displaced people say they only want to return home once the fighting stops. At the same time, more people are considering settling permanently where they now live - interest in local integration increased from 51 per cent in March to 58 per cent in June 2026, highlighting the need to support displaced families wherever they are, while still keeping an eye on the risks of people returning too soon or unsafely.

Around 2.15 million individuals - 56 per cent of all those displaced in Ukraine - originally came from areas that were fully or partly occupied at the time of the survey. This group has faced longer displacement, greater hardship, and fewer options for going home.

The findings show why emergency aid alone isn't enough. People need longer-term support with housing, jobs, health care, protection, and other essential services - so they can make informed, voluntary choices, whether that means settling where they are, moving elsewhere, or returning home safely once conditions allow.

The report is based on IOM's latest survey of the Ukrainian population, carried out between 23 April and 30 June 2026, with support from the Government of Canada, the European Union, Sweden, and the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.

For more information, please visit IOM's Media Centre.