Temporary protection for 4.28 million people in May
On 31 May 2025, 4.28 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine as a consequence of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine had a temporary protection status in the EU.
The EU countries hosting the highest number of beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1 192 840 people; 27.9% of the EU total), Poland (986 845; 23.1%) and Czechia (373 675; 8.7%).
Compared with the end of April 2025, at the end of May, the total number of people from Ukraine under temporary protection in the EU increased by 10 825 (+0.3%). The number of persons under temporary protection increased in 23 EU countries, with the 3 largest absolute increases observed in Germany (+3 485; +0.3%), Czechia (+3 075; +0.8%) and Spain (+2 110; +0.9%). The 3 largest decreases were recorded in Bulgaria (-9 270; -12.5%), France (-445; -0.8%) and Slovakia (-155; -0.1%).
Source datasets: migr_asytpsm and migr_asytpspop
Compared with the population of each EU country, the highest ratio of temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people were observed in Czechia (34.3), Poland (26.9) and Estonia (24.9), whereas the corresponding figure at the EU level was 9.5 per thousand people.
On 31 May 2025, Ukrainian citizens represented over 98.4% of the beneficiaries of temporary protection in the EU. Adult women made up almost half (44.6%) of the beneficiaries. Minors accounted for almost one third (31.4%), while adult men comprised less than a quarter (23.9%) of the total.
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 the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, and introducing temporary protection.
On 13 June 2025, the European Council adopted the decision to extend the temporary protection for these people from 4 March 2026 to 4 March 2027.
For more information
- Statistics Explained on temporary protection for persons fleeing Ukraine
- Thematic section on the impact of the war in Ukraine
- Thematic section on migration and asylum
- Database on asylum statistics
- European Commission – Temporary protection
Methodological notes
- 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.
- Deregistration procedure of persons under temporary protection varies across countries and can result in large month-to-month decreases in the number of registered beneficiaries if not implemented on a continuous basis.
Country notes
- France: data does not generally include minors.
- Spain, Cyprus and Greece: data on the number of persons under temporary protection at the end of the month include some persons whose temporary protection status was no longer valid.
- Portugal: data for May 2025 are not available. EU aggregate for May 2025 estimated by using latest available Portuguese data in April 2025.
For information on upcoming releases, please consult our release calendar. If you have any queries, please visit our contact us page.
