Women, looking in pain, holds baby in her arms.

On 31 August 2023, almost 4.2 million non-EU citizens, who fled Ukraine as a consequence of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, had temporary protection status in EU countries. 

The main EU countries hosting beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1 175 695 people; 28% of the total), Poland (960 550; 23%) and Czechia (365 085; 9%). 

Compared with the end of July 2023, the number of beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine in the EU increased by 41 275 (+1.0%). The largest absolute increases were observed in Germany (+21 830; +1.9%), Czechia (+7 545; +2.1%) and the Netherlands (+2 635; +1.7%). 

On the other hand, three countries saw a decrease in the number of people under temporary protection: Poland (-10 530; -1.1%), Italy (-550; -0.3%) and France (-420; -0.6%). 

Data presented in this article refer to the attribution of temporary protection status 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 war of aggression against Ukraine, and having the effect of introducing temporary protection. On 19 September, the Commission proposed to extend temporary protection for people fleeing Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to 3 March 2025. 
 

MAP: non-EU citizens who fleed Ukraine and were under temporary protection at the end of August 2023 (total numbers and Ratio to EU/country population)

Source datasets: migr_asytpsm and demo_gind

Compared with the population of each EU member, the highest numbers of total temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people at the end of August 2023 were observed in Czechia (33.7), Estonia (26.2), Poland (26.1), Bulgaria (25.6) and Lithuania (25.3), whereas the corresponding figure at the EU level was equal to 9.3 per thousand people.

On 31 August 2023, Ukrainian citizens represented over 98% of the beneficiaries of temporary protection. Adult women made up almost half (46.5%) of temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU. Children accounted for slightly more than one-third (33.9%), while adult men comprised less than a fifth (19.5%) of the total.

 

For more information

Methodological notes

  • France: in most cases, minors can stay in France without a permit. Therefore, minors fleeing the war in Ukraine and seeking protection in France are generally not included in statistics on temporary protection.
  • Ireland, Hungary: data on temporary protection broken down by age group are not available. 
  • Structures of beneficiaries by age and sex have been calculated based on available data while disregarding the unknown category.
  • 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, particularly 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 granting 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.

If you have any queries, please visit our contact us page