Fall Eurostat data show nearly 4.2 million Ukrainians who fled Russian aggression received temporary protection in the territory of the European Union. But some countries experience a greater influx of refugees than others.
At the end of October 2024, the EU countries hosting the highest number of beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1,140,705 people; 27.2% of the EU total), Poland (983,880; 23.4%) and Czechia (379,370; 9.0%). The number of persons under temporary protection relative to the EU population was 9.3 per 1,000 people at the end of October 2024. Among the EU countries, the highest ratios were observed in Czechia (34.8 per 1,000), ahead of Poland (26.9) and Estonia (25.3).
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Compared with the end of September 2024, the number of beneficiaries at the end of October remained stable in the EU at about 4.2 million (4,198 480). The number of persons under temporary protection in Lithuania (-33,455; -41.3%) significantly dropped in October 2024 because of the large-scale deregistration of persons with an inactive status. Without Lithuania’s deregistration exercise, the number of people under temporary protection in the EU would have increased in October by 34,570 (+0.8%). The largest absolute increases in the number of beneficiaries were observed in Germany (+11,370; +1.0%), Poland (+4,045; +0.4%) and Spain (+3,600; +1.6%). Apart from Lithuania, the number of beneficiaries decreased only in 2 EU countries, namely Italy (-1,105; -0.7%) and France (-280; -0.5%).
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Who are the people fleeing Ukraine and receiving temporary protection?
Of the people who fled Ukraine and were under temporary protection in the EU at the end of October 2024, 98.3% were Ukrainian. Among other non-EU citizens under temporary protection, the main countries of citizenship were Russia (12,294; 0.3%), Nigeria (4,982; 0.1%) and Azerbaijan (4,214; 0.1%).
At the end of October 2024, adult women represented 45.0% of beneficiaries of temporary protection, 54.9% of them were women aged 35 to 64 years. Children represented 32.0%, while the proportion of adult men in the total number of beneficiaries of temporary protection was 23.0%. By contrast, the proportions of boys and girls under the age of 18 years were close, with 16.8% for boys and 15.3% for girls (Figure 1).
In October 2024, the monthly share of children among persons granted temporary protection dropped to 25.2%, which marked its lowest level since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. This decrease represented a 5.8 percentage point (pp) decline compared with September 2024. During the same period, the share of adult women (43.7%) and adult men (31.0%) increased, respectively, by 2.4 pp and 3.3 pp.
How many decisions on temporary protection were issued by European countries?
In 2023, over 1 million new decisions providing temporary protection (1,056,020) were registered in the EU, compared with over 4.3 million in 2022 (4,331,385). About 75% of these decisions were taken in six countries, namely Germany (335,785, 31.8% of the EU total), Poland (237,475, 22.5%), Czechia (98,655, 9.3%), Romania (49,320, 4.7%), the Netherlands (34,775, 3.3%) and Spain (33,915, 3.3%) (Table 1).
During the third quarter of 2024, EU countries issued 215,850 new decisions providing temporary protection. This is the highest quarterly number of decisions recorded since the third quarter of 2023. Compared with the second quarter of 2024, the number of new decisions during the third quarter of 2024 increased by 10.5%. A rise was observed during the second quarter of 2024 in 20 EU countries, with the 3 largest absolute increases being recorded in Poland (+11,795), Czechia (+3,705) and Germany (+1,705). Seven EU countries issued fewer decisions providing temporary protection during the third quarter of 2024, with the sharpest declines recorded in Greece (-1,510), Bulgaria (-1,195) and Slovakia (-545).
In October 2024, 63,530 new decisions providing temporary protection in the EU were issued, marking a 3.7% decrease from September. Sixteen EU countries issued more decisions in October 2024 than in September, with the three largest absolute increases being observed in Germany (+1,505), Spain (+430) and Slovakia (+235). Among the 11 EU countries that issued fewer decisions in October compared with September, the three largest decreases were seen in Poland (-2,400), Czechia (-1,075) and Italy (-710).
Where did unaccompanied minors fleeing Ukraine go?
Since March 2022, 22 EU countries and all EFTA countries provided data on unaccompanied minors fleeing from Ukraine.
Of the EU countries for which data are available, Austria (2,405), the Netherlands (1,730) and Lithuania (1,665) have granted the most temporary protection statuses, in absolute terms, to unaccompanied minors since March 2022 (Table 2). In relative terms, the highest share of unaccompanied minors in the total number of children granted temporary protection was recorded in Croatia (13.2%) (Figure 3).
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