In May 2022, among the EU Member States for which data are available, Poland granted the highest number of temporary protection statuses to Ukrainians fleeing Ukraine (96 085) as a consequence of Russia’s invasion. Poland was followed by Romania (20 435) and Bulgaria (19 860).
While the overwhelming majority of persons receiving temporary protection were Ukrainians, there were also citizens of other countries who received such status in the EU Member States, e.g. 825 Nigerians in Portugal or 205 Russians in Poland.
This information comes from data on temporary protection published by Eurostat.
The presented data refer to the grants of temporary protection based on the Council Implementing Decision 2022/382 of 4 March 2022, establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion, and having the effect of introducing temporary protection.
Source datasets: migr_asytpfm and demo_gind
In May 2022, the number of Ukrainians receiving temporary protection increased in four EU Member States, with the largest increases recorded in Romania and Denmark (+9 575 and +1 040 respectively, compared with April 2022). In contrast, the numbers dropped in eighteen EU Member States, with the largest decrease observed in Poland (-329 535 compared with April 2022), followed by Bulgaria (-41 610) and France (-14 535).
Compared with the population of each Member State, the highest ratio of Ukrainian citizens granted temporary protection in May 2022 was recorded in Lithuania (6.1 granted temporary protection per thousand inhabitants), followed by Cyprus (3.5) and Bulgaria (2.9).
Less than a half of Ukrainians seeking protection in EU Member States were children
The largest number of Ukrainian children (persons under 18 years old) granted temporary protection was recorded in Poland (30 170 children, or 31% of Ukrainians granted protection in Poland in May), followed by Romania (8 235, or 40%) and Bulgaria (7 175, or 36%).
Predominantly Ukrainian females seeking protection in the EU Member States
In the EU Member States for which data are available, the majority of Ukrainians granted temporary protection were females, including girls. The largest number of females who received temporary protection were reported by Poland (67 465, or 70% of the Ukrainians granted protection in Poland in May), Romania (13 785, or 67%) and Bulgaria (13 475, or 68%).
Among males granted temporary protection in the EU Member States, at least a third were boys below 18 years old.
Over a million Ukrainians in Poland
Based on the available data as of 31 May 2022, the largest number of Ukrainians benefitting from temporary protection in the EU was recorded in Poland (1 142 375 Ukrainians with temporary protection). Poland was followed by Bulgaria (111 895) and Slovakia (76 510).
For more information:
- Database on asylum statistics
- Dedicated section on migration and asylum statistics
- Statistics Explained article on monthly asylum statistics
- Statistics Explained article on annual asylum statistics
- European Commission – Temporary protection
Methodological notes:
- Czechia, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Austria: data not available for May 2022. This is because the data collection is carried out on a voluntary basis, so the completeness of the data may vary.
- Temporary protection is a procedure provided only in the event of a mass influx or imminent mass influx of displaced persons from third countries who are unable to return to their country of origin. These people are granted immediate and temporary protection, in particular if there is also a risk that the asylum system will be unable to process the influx without adverse effects for its efficient operation, in the interests of the persons concerned and other persons requesting protection.
- Data presented in this article refer to the grants of temporary protection and not to the registrations for temporary protection, which may precede the process of granting the status. Therefore, the data may not present all persons fleeing Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and who have registered but not yet formally received temporary protection.
To contact us, please visit our User Support page.
For press queries, please contact our Media Support.