On October 31, nearly 4.2 million individuals who fled Ukraine due to Russia’s full-scale invasion had temporary protection status in EU countries.
These figures were published by Eurostat on December 6, Ukrinform reports.
Among EU nations, Germany hosts the largest number of the beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine (1,140,705 individuals; 27.2% of the total), followed by Poland (983,880; 23.4%) and the Czech Republic (379,370; 9%).
Compared with the end of September 2024, the largest absolute increases in the beneficiaries of temporary protection at the end of October were observed in Germany (+11,370; +1%), Poland (+4,045; +0.4%), and Spain (+3,600; +1.6%). Conversely, Lithuania recorded a significant decrease (-33,455; -41.3%) because of the large-scale deregistration of persons with an inactive status. Otherwise, the number of people under temporary protection decreased only in Italy (-1 105; -0.7%) and France (-280; -0.5%).
On October 31, 2024, Ukrainian citizens represented over 98.3% of the beneficiaries of temporary protection. Adult women made up almost half (45.0%) of the temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU. Children accounted for almost one-third (32.0%), while adult men comprised less than a quarter (23.0%) of the total.
As reported by Ukrinform, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU activated the Temporary Protection Directive, granting Ukrainians fleeing the conflict the right to legally stay in the EU and access basic social services, including healthcare, education, and employment opportunities.
In June, the EU Council extended temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees until March 4, 2026.
Source: Nearly 4.2M Ukrainians have temporary protection in EU
