Temporary protection for persons fleeing Ukraine - monthly statistics

Data extracted in March 2023

Planned article update: 17 April 2023

Highlights

At the end of January 2023, the main countries hosting beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1 004 965) and Poland (974 060).

The highest numbers of temporary protection beneficiaries from Ukraine relative to population were observed in Estonia (29.3), Poland (25.9), Lithuania (23.7) and Bulgaria (21.9).

Females represented 65 % of beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine, the majority of them were women aged 35 to 64 years old. Males represented 35 % and most of them were boys aged 0 to 14 years old.

On 4 March 2022, the European Council unanimously adopted an implementing decision introducing temporary protection for people fleeing Ukraine as a consequence of Russia's invasion. Temporary protection status and conditions of applications are defined by Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001, whereas Council Decision 2022/382 of 4 March 2022, establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC, is the first one to introduce temporary protection. Temporary protection is an exceptional measure to provide immediate and temporary protection to displaced persons from non-EU countries and those unable to return to their country of origin. It applies when there is a risk that the standard asylum system will struggle to cope with demands stemming from a mass inflow, risking a negative impact on the processing of claims.

Full article

Where in the EU did people fleeing Ukraine go?

Among the EU members for which data are available, the highest numbers of temporary protection beneficiaries relative to population were observed in Estonia (29.3), Poland (25.9), Lithuania (23.7) and Bulgaria (21.9). When looking at the absolute numbers, the main countries hosting beneficiaries of temporary protection were Germany (1 004 965 temporary protection beneficiaries) and Poland (974 060) (Map 1).

Map 1: Non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine and benefitted from temporary protection at the end of December 2022
Source: Eurostat (migr_asytpsm) (demo_gind)

At the end of January 2023, females represented 65 % of beneficiaries of temporary protection, the majority of them were women aged 35 to 64 years old. Males represented 35 % and most of them were boys aged 0 to 14 years old. Considering the total number of beneficiaries at the end of the month, the proportion for boys and girls of less than 14 years old and from 14 to 17 years old were almost similar (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Structure by age and sex of beneficiaries of temporary protection in the EU, end of January 2023 (%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_asytpsm)

Who are the people fleeing Ukraine and receiving temporary protection?

Over 98 % of the people fleeing from Ukraine were citizens of Ukraine. Figure 2 shows that the share of adult men in the recent flows is following an upward trend (an increase from 7 % to 29 % between March and January 2023), this is in contrast to the proportion of children which decreased (from 47 % to 26 % between March and January 2023). The proportion of adult women remained relatively stable with a share of 45 % in January 2023.

Figure 2: Share of main population groups among persons granted temporary protection (%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_asytpfm)

How many decisions on temporary protection were issued by EU Member States and EFTA countries?

Most people fleeing Ukraine were granted temporary protection during the first half of 2022. In the third and fourth quarter of 2022, fewer people sought temporary protection. In January 2023, most decisions granting temporary protection were recorded in Poland and Germany (Table 1).

Table 1: Number of decisions on temporary protection in EU Member States and EFTA countries
Source: Eurostat (migr_asytpfm), (migr_asytpfq)

Where did unaccompanied minors fleeing Ukraine go?

21 countries reported unaccompanied minors fleeing from Ukraine (17 Member States and 4 EFTA countries). In absolute terms, Lithuania and Belgium were the two EU Member States that granted the most temporary protection statuses to unaccompanied minors since March 2022 (Table 2). In relative terms, the highest share of unaccompanied minors in the number of children granted temporary protection was recorded in Croatia (10.1 %) (Figure 3).

Table 2: Number of unaccompanied minors granted temporary protection by quarter and by month
Source: Eurostat (migr_asytpfm), (migr_asytpfq)

Figure 3: Share of unaccompanied minors in the total number of children granted temporary protection from March 2022 to January 2023 in available EU and EFTA countries (%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_asytpfm), (migr_asytpfq), (migr_asyumtpfm), (migr_asyumtpfq)

Source data for tables and graphs

Temporary protection: tables and figures

Data sources

The data used for this publication are provided to Eurostat by the interior and justice ministries or immigration agencies of the EU Member States and EFTA countries. Data on asylum applications are collected monthly. They are based entirely on relevant administrative sources and supplied in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of the Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on community statistics on migration and international protection. Statistics on asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors presented in the article refer to the age accepted by the national authorities, and generally before the age assessment procedure was carried out/completed due to the data reporting deadline.

Structures by age and by sex have been calculated based on available data while disregarding the unknown category.

Some data are unavailable. This is because the monthly data collection is carried out on a voluntary basis, so the completeness of the data may vary:

Czechia: data on decisions granting temporary protection to Ukrainians are available only for March 2022; monthly data on beneficiaries at the end of the month are available for all reference periods except January 2023.
Portugal: data on decisions granting temporary protection to Ukrainians are not available for January 2023; data on beneficiaries at the end of January 2023 not available.
Germany: data on decisions granting temporary protection to Ukrainians are not available for March-July 2022.
France: In most cases, minors can stay in France without a permit. Therefore, minors are generally not included in statistics on temporary protection. In March 2023, data were revised since March 2022.
Czechia, Ireland, Hungary and Portugal: data on temporary protection for Ukrainian children (people under 18 years old) are not available for January 2023.

Due to the short timeliness of data and limited data sources, figures presented may be subject to future revisions.

Context

In line with the ESS commitment to provide relevant and timely official statistics, Eurostat asked EU Member States and EFTA countries to transmit voluntary monthly data within one month following the end of a reference period and for the first time by the end of April for the reference month March 2022 for the following data series within the framework of Eurostat data collections in the field of Asylum (Article 4 of the Regulation (EC) No 862/2007):

Decisions during the reference period granting temporary protection status by age, sex, citizenship and type of minor (flow data).
Beneficiaries of temporary protection at the end of the month by age, sex, citizenship and type of minor (stock data).

Temporary protection status and conditions of applications are defined by Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 whereas the Council implementing decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022 establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC is the first one with the effect of introducing temporary protection. These data are supplied to Eurostat by the national Ministries of Interior and related immigration agencies. Official statistics provided to Eurostat may differ from operational data collected under other collection frameworks in the Commission or by European or international agencies like EUAA (European Union Asylum Agency) or UNHCR for various reasons including various definitions used, frequencies, deadlines for provision and quality requirements.

Direct access to

Main tables

Temporary Protection migr_asytp, see:

Decisions granting temporary protection by citizenship, age and sex – quarterly data (migr_asytpfq)

Decisions granting temporary protection by citizenship, age and sex – monthly data (migr_asytpfm)

Beneficiaries of temporary protection at the end of the month by citizenship, age and sex – monthly data (migr_asytpsm)

Decisions granting temporary protection to unaccompanied minors by citizenship, age and sex – quarterly data (migr_asyumtpfq)

Decisions granting temporary protection to unaccompanied minors by citizenship, age and sex – monthly data (migr_asyumtpfm)

Unaccompanied minors benefiting from temporary protection at the end of the month by citizenship, age and sex – monthly data (migr_asyumtpsm)

Database