4.2 Million Under Temporary Protection in EU Due to Ukraine Conflict

As of April 30, 2024, 4.2 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine due to the Russian war of aggression, which began on February 24, 2022, were under temporary protection status in the EU.

Among the EU countries that voluntarily provided data, Poland hosted the highest number of these beneficiaries, with 953,930 individuals under temporary protection. Czechia followed with 345,405 beneficiaries.

From March to April 2024, the number of temporary protection beneficiaries increased in 19 EU countries, with the largest absolute rises recorded in Romania (+3,275), Sweden (+1,855), Bulgaria (+1,780), and Slovakia (+1,250).

Conversely, six EU countries saw a decrease in beneficiaries, with Czechia (-18,970) and the Netherlands (-8,415) experiencing the largest drops.

These figures are based on the Council Implementing Decision 2022/382, which established temporary protection due to the mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine. On September 28, 2023, the European Council extended this temporary protection from March 4, 2024, to March 4, 2025.

Relative to their populations, Czechia, Lithuania, and Poland had the highest numbers of temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people, with 31.9, 27.0, and 26.0 respectively. The EU average was 9.4 per thousand people.

Ukrainian citizens made up over 98% of those under temporary protection. Adult women comprised nearly half (45.7%) of the beneficiaries, children accounted for almost a third (32.8%), and adult men made up slightly more than a fifth (21.5%) of the total.