As the year came to a close on 31 December 2023, the European Union continued to offer temporary protection to a significant number of non-EU nationals displaced by the Russian occupation of Ukraine. This led to a total of 4.31 million individuals finding shelter within the borders of the EU.
According to recent data from the European Agency of Statistics, Eurostat, Germany emerged as the primary host for these beneficiaries, accommodating 1,251,245 individuals, accounting for 29.0 per cent of the EU total. Poland followed closely, sheltering 954,795 people (22.1 per cent), while Czechia provided shelter to 373,035 individuals (8.7 per cent). There were also dynamic shifts in the distribution of beneficiaries compared to the figures recorded at the end of November 2023.
Among these beneficiaries, adult women emerged as a prominent demographic, accounting for nearly half (46.2 per cent) of the total. In addition, children comprised almost a third (33.2 per cent) of the beneficiary population, while male adults comprised just over a fifth (20.6 per cent) of the total.
Czechia emerged as the top EU country providing refugee protection in 2023, with 34.5 beneficiaries per thousand individuals. Other countries that exceeded the EU-wide average of 9.6 beneficiaries per thousand people included Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland.
The data also revealed that Ukrainian citizens constituted a vast majority, representing over 98 per cent of all beneficiaries of temporary protection within the EU. Eurostat’s previous figures also revealed that close to 4.2 million non-EU citizens sought refuge in EU countries under temporary protection, fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
The top countries for hosting refugees were Germany, Poland, and Czechia, with the number of individuals receiving temporary protection within the EU from Ukraine increasing by 41,275 from July 2023 to August 2023, marking a one per cent growth in just one month. These figures indicate the significant impact of the Russian occupation of Ukraine on the movement of people within the EU.
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