Poland’s register of people under temporary protection following the war in Ukraine fell by 80,850, or 8.6%, in September 2026, to 858,545. Eurostat attributes the decline mainly to administrative changes, including moves to standard temporary residence permits and the removal of inactive records. The fall does not indicate a mass departure from Poland.
By Adam Ujazdowski. Polish original published on 10 November 2026 at 11:40:36 UTC. English adaptation published on 10 November 2026.
Across the European Union, 4.37 million people who had fled Ukraine following Russia’s invasion held temporary protection at the end of September, according to figures released on 10 November by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office. The total fell by 61,055, or 1.4%, during the month.
Poland remained the EU’s second-largest host of registered temporary protection beneficiaries after Germany. It was also one of only two member states to record a decline in September.
Administrative changes drive Poland’s decline
Poland had 939,395 registered beneficiaries at the end of August. A month later, the total stood at 858,545, a decrease of 80,850.
The decline in Poland exceeded the fall across the EU as a whole. Increases in most other member states partly offset the reduction in Polish registrations.
Eurostat stresses that Poland’s figures primarily reflect administrative changes. Some people switched to standard temporary residence permits, while inactive entries were removed from the register.
The fall of about 80,900 cannot be interpreted as the departure of that many Ukrainian citizens from Poland. The statistics measure legal status and registration rather than migration flows directly.
Chart 2. Monthly change in temporary protection beneficiaries
Germany hosts nearly 30% of EU beneficiaries
Germany had the largest number of temporary protection beneficiaries, at 1,300,070. It accounted for 29.7% of the EU total.
Poland ranked second, with 19.6%, followed by Czechia, where 391,720 people were registered, representing 9% of the EU total.
Together, these three countries hosted about 2.55 million temporary protection beneficiaries, more than 58% of all those registered in the EU.
Chart 1. Temporary protection beneficiaries, September 2026
The ranking changes when measured relative to population. Czechia had the highest rate, with 35.9 registered beneficiaries per 1,000 residents, followed by Slovakia at 28.0 and Cyprus at 27.4. The EU average was 9.7.
Chart 4. Beneficiaries per 1,000 residents
Registrations rise in 25 EU countries
The number of temporary protection beneficiaries rose in 25 of the EU’s 27 member states in September.
Germany recorded the largest absolute increase, with 5,515 additional registered beneficiaries. Romania’s total rose by 3,900 and Italy’s by 2,505.
These represented increases of 0.4%, 1.8% and 4.4%, respectively. Only Poland and Czechia recorded declines. Czechia’s total fell by 6,640, or 1.7%, compared with the end of August.
Women and children account for 72.1% of beneficiaries
Ukrainian citizens accounted for 98.5% of temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU. The remainder were people of other nationalities covered by the mechanism activated after the war began.
Adult women formed the largest group, accounting for 44.1% of registered beneficiaries. Minors represented 28%, and adult men 27.9%.
Women and minors together therefore accounted for 72.1% of all temporary protection beneficiaries.
Chart 3. EU temporary protection beneficiaries by demographic group
Temporary protection extended to March 2028
Temporary protection allows people fleeing the war to stay legally in EU member states without going through the standard asylum procedure. It also provides access to employment, education and certain benefits under the rules applying in each country.
On 15 July 2026, EU member states adopted a decision extending temporary protection to 4 March 2028. It had previously been due to expire on 4 March 2027.
For Poland, the distinction between the number of people holding temporary protection and the total number of Ukrainian citizens legally living and working in the country remains significant. Moving to another residence status can reduce the former without changing the number of residents.
Source: Eurostat, “Temporary protection for 4.37 million in September 2026”, 10 November 2026; datasets migr_asytpsm and migr_asytpspop.
