Number of Ukrainians in EU Under Temporary Protection at 4.3 million

On Jan. 31 2024, 4.3 million non-EU citizens, who fled Ukraine as a consequence of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 2022, had temporary protection status in the EU.

The main EU countries hosting beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1 270 150 people; 29.5% of total EU), Poland (951 560; 22.1%) and Czechia (381 190; 8.9%).

Compared with the end of December 2023, the largest absolute increases in the number of beneficiaries were observed in Germany (+18 905; +1.5%), Czechia (+8 155; +2.2%), and Spain (+2 830; +1.5%).

The number of beneficiaries decreased in 5 EU countries, namely Italy (-18 125 people; -11.2%), Poland (-3 235; -0.3%), Estonia (-225; -0.6%), France (-205; -0.3%), and Luxembourg (-10; -0.2%).

Data presented in this article refer to the attribution of temporary protection status based on the Council Implementing Decision 2022/382 of March 4, 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 Sep. 28, 2023, the European Council agreed to extend the temporary protection for people fleeing from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine from 4 March 2024 to 4 March 2025.

Compared with the population of each EU country, the highest numbers of total temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people at the end of January 2024 were observed in Czechia (35.2), Bulgaria (26.7), Lithuania (26.4), Estonia (26.2) and Poland (25.9), whereas the corresponding figure at the EU level was 9.6 per thousand people.

Other Topics of Interest

Diane Francis Interviews Mikhail Zygar, Yaroslav Trofimov on Prospects of Russia’s War on Ukraine

Video discussion with three leading expert journalists on the current situation in Russia’s war against Ukraine republished with the permission of the Peterson Literary Fund.

On  Jan. 31, 2024, Ukrainian citizens represented over 98% of the beneficiaries of temporary protection. Adult women made up almost half (46.1%) of temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU. Children accounted for almost one-third (33.2%), while adult men comprised slightly more than a fifth (20.7%) of the total.