Number of Ukrainian refugees with temporary protection status in EU grows by 36,600 in Nov - Eurostat

MOSCOW. Jan 15 (Interfax) - A total of 4,274,630 non-EU citizens who left Ukraine after the beginning of the crisis had temporary protection status in the European Union by the end of 2023, Ukrainian media outlets said with a reference to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).

"Compared with the end of October 2023, the largest absolute increases in the number of beneficiaries were observed in Germany (+20 595; +1.7%), Czechia (+4 880; +1.3%), and Norway (+4 180; +6.9%). Among all EU countries, the number of beneficiaries decreased slightly in four countries, namely Poland (-5 510 people; -0.6%), Italy (-160 people; -0.1%), France (-125 people; -0.2%), and Luxembourg (-15 people; -0.4%)," Eurostat said.

The growth slowed to 0.9%, or 36,600 people, in November compared to 1.2% in October, returning to the level recorded in August-September which was 0.8-1%. In these eight months, the biggest growth was recorded in Germany, over 170,000 people in total, and the Czech Republic (58,700).

According to Eurostat, as of late November, the main EU countries hosting beneficiaries of temporary protection from Ukraine were Germany (1,235,960 people making up 28.9% of total EU), Poland (955,110, 22.3%) and the Czech Republic (369,330, 8.6%). The total share of these countries is 59.8%.

Eurostat previously clarified that in comparison with the population of each EU member state the largest number of beneficiaries of temporary protection per thousand people was staying in the Czech Republic (33.7), Estonia (26.3), Poland and Bulgaria (26.1) and Lithuania (25.8) in October 2023, whereas the relevant parameter at the EU level grew to 9.5.

As of October 31, 2023, Ukrainian citizens represented over 98% of beneficiaries of temporary protection, Eurostat said. Adult women made up nearly half (46.3%) beneficiaries of temporary protection in the EU, children - a little over a third (33.3%), whereas adult men accounted for a little over a fifth (20.4%) of the total amount. The share of women was 46.6%, children 34.6% and adult men 18.8% six months earlier.

In November, Spain received the fourth highest number of Ukrainian refugees with temporary protection status, 192,665, and Bulgaria the fifth highest one (169,845), Eurostat said.

Italy also hosted over 100,000 of such individuals by the end of November (161,500), as well as Romania (144,295), the Netherlands 139,630 (data for October), and Slovakia (113,110).

The following countries accepted from 50,000 to 100,000 beneficiaries of temporary protection: Ireland (99,415), Austria (82,610), Lithuania (74,450), Belgium (73,705), France (65,175, data for minors generally not included), Switzerland (66,110), Norway (65,160), Finland (63,485), and Portugal (58,490).

They are followed by Latvia (43,565), Sweden (43,125), Estonia (35,885), Denmark (36,065), Hungary (33,720), Greece (26,675), Croatia (22,900), Cyprus (19,080), Luxembourg (4,175), Iceland (3,760), Malta (1,955), and Liechtenstein (565).

All presented data refer to the attribution of temporary protection status based on the Implementing Decision 2022/382 of the Council of the European Union of March 4, 2022, establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Ukrainian refugees across Europe was estimated at 5.939 million as of December 5, and 6.343 million globally, which is 34,000 higher than in the previous month.

As of November 27, there were 3.674 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine itself, compared to the previous estimate of 5.088 million, the UN said. "This [such significant reduction] is not due to a significant return of IDPs, but rather primarily to a change in the methodology used in calculating the number of IDPs. The new baseline population figure used to extrapolate IDP estimates now takes into account the absence of some 6.2 million refugees from Ukraine who are no longer in the country," UNHCR said.

The Ukrainian government expects the return of 1.5 million Ukrainians home as part of its macroeconomic forecast for 2024 envisaging the growth of GDP for 4.6%.