Almost 4.3 million people sought temporary protection in the EU due to the war in Ukraine

Author:
Sofiia Telishevska
Date:

As of January 31, 2023, 4.27 million citizens fleeing the war in Ukraine had the status of temporary protection in the European Union.

This is evidenced by Eurostat data.

The main EU countries receiving refugees were Germany (1.27 million people, 29.5% of the total number in the EU), Poland (951 560, 22.1%) and the Czech Republic (381 190, 8.9%).

Compared to the end of December 2023, the largest absolute increase in the number of refugees was observed in Germany (+18 905, +1.5%), the Czech Republic (+8 155, +2.2%) and Spain (+2 830, +1.5%).

At the same time, the number of asylum seekers decreased in five EU countries: Italy (-18 125 people, -11.2%), Poland (-3 235, -0.3%), Estonia (-225, -0.6%), France (-205, -0.3%) and Luxembourg (-10, -0.2%).

Compared to the population of each EU country, the largest number of recipients of temporary protection per thousand persons at the end of January 2024 was observed in the Czech Republic (35.2), Bulgaria (26.7), Lithuania (26.4), Estonia (26.2) and Poland (25.9). The corresponding indicator at the EU level was 9.6 per thousand people.

Citizens of Ukraine make up more than 98% of recipients of temporary protection. Of them, adult women make up almost half (46.1%), children — almost a third (33.2%), adult men — a little more than a fifth (20.7%) of the total number.