Since the conflict erupted on February 24, 2022, these individuals have fled their homes, ultimately benefiting from the EU’s temporary protection status.
Germany, Poland, and Czechia have emerged as the primary havens for the Ukrainian refugees, accommodating 28%, 25%, and 8% of the total number respectively. As of the end of April 2023, Germany had become a temporary home for 1,090,235 people, with Poland sheltering 995,035, and Czechia offering sanctuary to 331,850 individuals.
The figures also reveal that the Grand Duchy is doing its bit to host refugees. At the end of April, 4,065 individuals benefitted from temporary protection in Luxembourg.
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A noteworthy surge of 1.3% in the total number of protected individuals from Ukraine across the EU was observed in April 2023, an increase of 51,010 people.
Germany, Sweden, and Czechia have seen the most substantial upticks.
Germany welcomed an additional 22,480 refugees (a 2% rise), while Sweden saw a 35% hike (8,640 individuals), and Czechia’s numbers increased by 2% (6,605 people). Sweden’s marked increase is primarily attributed to a delayed renewal process for temporary protection statuses that concluded in March 2023, making the registered count at the end of March appear deceptively low.
Conversely, a handful of countries reported a decrease in the number of people benefiting from temporary protection. Poland’s count reduced by 4,700 (a 0.5% decrease), Portugal by 2,520 (4%), Estonia by 1,885 (5%), and France by 985 (1%).
The data in this report refer to individuals granted temporary protection as a result of the EU Council Implementing Decision 2022/382 issued on 4 March 2022. The ruling introducing temporary protection for individuals displaced as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A demographic observation for April 2023 revealed that per thousand citizens, the highest numbers of temporary protection beneficiaries were observed in Czechia (31.6), followed by Poland and Estonia (26.4 each), Lithuania (24.5), Bulgaria (22.7), and Latvia (21.2). The EU average, by comparison, stood at 8.9.
The beneficiaries of temporary protection status were predominantly Ukrainian, accounting for 98% of the total by April 2023. A demographic breakdown revealed that adult women comprised almost half of the beneficiaries (47%, primarily aged 35-64), while children made up slightly over a third (35%). Adult men, on the other hand, represented less than a fifth (18%) of the total.
