Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

F2: Population and migration

2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG

On 22 March 2022, Eurostat’s Director General addressed the Directors General and Presidents of the National Statistical Institutes (NSI) in the European Statistical System (ESS) inviting them to contribute professionally to European actions to support Ukraine by ensuring the timelier availability of the necessary statistics. More specifically, the Partnership Group stressed that population data are crucial in this situation and would need to be prioritised. The Directors of Social Statistics underlined the importance of comparable statistics covering statistics on temporary protection. 

In line with the ESS commitment to provide relevant and timely official statistics, Eurostat asked Member States and EFTA countries to transmit voluntary monthly data within one month following the end of reference period and for the first time by the end of April for the reference month March 2022 for the following data series within the framework of Eurostat data collections in the field of Asylum and international protection (Article 4 of the Regulation (EC) No 862/2007): 

• Decisions during the reference period granting temporary protection status by age, sex, citizenship and status of minors (flow data).
• Beneficiaries of temporary protection at the end of the month by citizenship, age, sex and status of minors (stock data).

Temporary protection status and conditions of applications are defined by Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 whereas Council implementing decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022 establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons from Ukraine within the meaning of Article 5 of Directive 2001/55/EC is the first one having the effect of introducing temporary protection. 

Quarterly data series on decisions on temporary protection contain statistical information based on Article 4 of the Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 with reference to:

• Persons covered by first instance decisions granting or withdrawing temporary protection by age, sex, citizenship and status of minors.

These data are supplied to Eurostat by the national Ministries of the Interior, National Statistical Institutes and related immigration agencies.

Data are presented by country and aggregation for the European Union.

Data are rounded to the nearest 5.

Provided data may differ from operational data collected by European or International agencies like EUAA (European Union Asylum Agency) or UNHCR.

The classification of codes on the reporting country (GEO) and on the country of citizenship of asylum applicants (CITIZEN) corresponds to the ISO 3166 code-list (3166-1 alpha-2) with the exception of:

• Greece where the code "EL" was adopted (instead of "GR") and
• United Kingdom where the code "UK" was adopted (instead of "GB"). 

Migration and Asylum - Temporary protection statistics.

‘Temporary protection’ means a procedure of exceptional character to provide, in the event of a mass influx or imminent mass influx of displaced persons from third countries who are unable to return to their country of origin, immediate and temporary protection to such persons, in particular if there is also a risk that the asylum system will be unable to process this influx without adverse effects for its efficient operation, in the interests of the persons concerned and other persons requesting protection. 

European temporary protection versus national temporary protection: The Council implementing decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022 is compatible with, and can be applied in complementarity with, national temporary protection schemes, which can be considered as implementing Directive 2001/55/EC. If the Member State has a national scheme that is more favourable than the arrangements set out in Directive 2001/55/EC, the Member State should be able to continue applying it, since that Directive provides that Member States may adopt or retain more favourable conditions for persons covered by temporary protection. However, should the national scheme be less favourable, the Member State should ensure the additional rights provided for in Directive 2001/55/EC. 

Duration of temporary protection: In accordance with Directive 2001/55/EC, the ‘duration of temporary protection’ should be for an initial period of one year. Unless terminated under the terms of that Directive, that period should be extended automatically by six monthly periods for a maximum of one year. The Commission will keep the situation under constant monitoring and review. At any time, it may propose to the Council to end the temporary protection, based on the fact that the situation in Ukraine is such as to permit the safe and durable return of those granted temporary protection, or propose that the Council extend the temporary protection by up to one year. 

Termination of temporary protection: Temporary protection shall come to an end when the maximum duration has been reached or at any time, by Council Decision adopted by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, which shall also examine any request by a Member State that it submit a proposal to the Council. The Council Decision shall be based on the establishment of the fact that the situation in the country of origin is such as to permit the safe and durable return of those granted temporary protection. 

‘Unaccompanied minors’ means third-country nationals or stateless persons below the age of eighteen, who arrive on the territory of the Member States unaccompanied by an adult responsible for them whether by law or custom, and for as long as they are not effectively taken into the care of such a person, or minors who are left unaccompanied after they have entered the territory of the Member States.

All data explicitly refer to the number of persons covered by the decisions granting temporary protection status. 

Based on the Council implementing decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022, the population to whom the temporary protection applies to the following categories of persons displaced from Ukraine on or after 24 February 2022, as a result of the military invasion by Russian armed forces:

a) Ukrainian nationals residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022.

b) Stateless persons, and nationals of third countries other than Ukraine, who benefited from international protection or equivalent national protection in Ukraine before 24 February 2022.

c) Family members of the persons referred to in points a) and b).

d) Stateless persons, and nationals of third countries other than Ukraine, who can prove that they were legally residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022 on the basis of a valid permanent residence permit issued in accordance with Ukrainian law and who are unable to return in safe and durable conditions to their country or region of origin. Member States may extend temporary protection to all other stateless persons or nationals of third countries other than Ukraine residing legally in Ukraine who are unable to return in safe and durable conditions to their country or region of origin. Such persons could include third-country nationals who were studying or working in Ukraine on a short-term basis at the time of the events leading to the mass influx.

The following persons shall be considered to be part of a family, in so far as the family was already present and residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022:

• The spouse of a person referred to in point a) or b), or the unmarried partner in a stable relationship, where the legislation or practice of the Member State concerned treats unmarried couples in a way comparable to married couples under its national law relating to aliens.
• The minor unmarried children of a person referred to in point a) or b), or of his or her spouse, without distinction as to whether they were born in or out wedlock or adopted.
• Other close relatives who lived together as part of the family unit at the time of the circumstances surrounding the mass influx of displaced persons, and who were wholly or mainly dependent on a person referred to in point a) or b) at the time. 

EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

This data collection will be carried out only during the period of applicability of the Council Directive 2001/55/EC on Temporary protection. 

In the period from the first quarter of 2008 to the fourth quarter of 2021, this data collection is not applicable.

Time series on monthly temporary protection are available from the reference month March 2022. 

Time series on quarterly temporary protection are available from the first quarter of 2022.

Time series on annual temporary protection are available from the reference year 2022.

Not applicable.

The compilation of quarterly statistics on Temporary protection is based on Article 4 of Council Regulation (CE) No 862/2007 of 11 July 2007, which depicts in detail the data provisions Member States are bound to supply Eurostat with.

The compilation of monthly statistics is based on the gentlemen’s agreement with the national data providers; therefore, the provision of this statistics to Eurostat is voluntary.

Not applicable.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Data on temporary protection decisions are not confidential.

Statistical information is published in accordance with an approved release calendar.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Data on temporary protection decisions are used in regular publications (News articles and statistics explained on non-EU citizens under temporary protection).

Data on temporary protection decisions are used in thematic section - Ukraine.

Data are online on the Eurostat website in the folder Temporary protection (migr_asytp).

Not applicable.

Data are rounded to the nearest 5.

Due to the rounding, the sum of sub-items may not necessarily match the given total.

See the annex on Technical Guidelines on asylum statistics.
Refer as well to Article 4 of the Council Regulation (EC) No 862/2007, Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001  and Council implementing decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022.

See annexes.

An Asylum Metadata questionnaire has been developed by Eurostat to ensure the compliance of Member States with requirements of Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007. 

As given in the Article 9 of the Regulation, Member States must report to Eurostat on the data sources used, the reasons for the selection of these sources and the effects of the selected data on the quality of the statistics. 

Member States compile the requested data following the guidelines and instructions provided by Eurostat. Before data publication, consistency validation checks are performed. 

Furthermore, in order to ensure that the statistical practices used to compile the Asylum data are in compliance with the methodological requirements and that good practices in the field of Asylum statistics are being followed, Eurostat organises every year a dedicated Working Group on Asylum and managed migration (AMM) statistics where quality and methodological issues are discussed with the national data providers.

Temporary protection data are based on administrative sources. Certain differences in definitions and practices of producing asylum statistics exist between countries. However, the Member States are generally following the requirements of the Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 and the quality of the data may be assessed as good or very good.

Users of Eurostat asylum statistics are:

• various policy DGs in the European Commission, like DG Migration and Home Affairs for designing, funding and implementing asylum related policies in the EU,
• European Parliament,
• national authorities (Ministries of Interior, Ministries of Justice, immigration agencies) who use Asylum data to monitor or project the development of their national asylum procedures,
• European Migration Network (EMN) which uses the Asylum data as a basis for its annual EU and national level statistical and analytical reports,
• researchers and students conducting analysis and research in the field of asylum,
• journalists and international organisations in the area of asylum and migration.

Eurostat does not conduct user satisfaction surveys per se. Instead, the user satisfaction is monitored on a constant way through informal and formal contacts and communications with users and through requests and comments received by users.

The completeness of the temporary protection data depends largely on the availability of the data from the relevant data providers (Ministries of the Interior, National Statistical Institutes or immigration related agencies). Since the data collection is carried out on a voluntary basis, the completeness of the data may vary.

The following table describes the completeness of the data from March 2022.

The accuracy of statistical outputs in the general statistical sense is the degree of closeness of estimates to the true values.

The overall assessment of the accuracy of the voluntary monthly data on decisions granting temporary protection is considered as good. The inaccuracy of this data is due to an acute situation requiring the rapid creation of a database, late registration in the system, repeated registration, termination of the temporary protection or other reasons.

Sweden: As a result of the delay in renewal of temporary protection statuses in Sweden in March 2023 and 2024, the total number of beneficiaries at the end of March, April, May 2023 and March 2024 for Sweden is provisional and may be subject to revision.

Germany: Delays in the registration of flows in Germany may lead to misalignment between flow and stock data.

France: In most cases, minors can stay in France without a permit. Therefore, minors are generally not included in statistics on temporary protection.

Data on the number of persons under temporary protection at the end of the month until December 2022 (for the Netherlands), until January 2024 (for Bulgaria) and until June 2024 (for Germany) include some persons whose temporary protection status was no longer valid and are not comparable with data of the following reference periods.

Spain, Greece and Cyprus: Data on the number of persons under temporary protection at the end of the month include some persons whose temporary protection status was no longer valid.

Czechia: May data covers the period from 1 May to 14 June.

Data on quarterly decisions granting temporary protection are provided by countries or calculated from monthly data.

Data on quarterly decisions withdrawing temporary protection are provided by countries together with the other data on first instance decisions withdrawing status granted.

Data on annual decisions are calculated from quarterly data.

EU aggregate is calculated as the sum of data from all Member States. It may be overestimated because of a certain risk that the same third-country national could apply or benefit from temporary protection in other Member States during the same reference period.

Not applicable.

Measurement error in the register.

Data are sent to Eurostat by the reporting countries no later than one month after the end of the reference period.

Generally, data are released by Eurostat on the public online database approximately 3 working days immediately after their reception (given that they do not contain any errors). In exceptional cases (large revisions, further validation, technical reasons, etc.) data may be disseminated later than 3 working days.

It is expected that the punctuality of voluntary data on temporary protection will be comparable to the punctuality of asylum data, which is overall very good.

Almost all countries are able to meet the requirements of transmitting the data within the deadlines.

Main possible issue concerning comparability of data on temporary protection could result from the difference existing between the different ways countries are recording deregistration of beneficiaries of temporary protection. Other possible issue consists in the difference between specific national temporary protection schemes and European temporary protection status.

Bulgaria (until January 2024), Spain, Greece, Cyprus, the Netherlands (until December 2022) and Iceland: Data on the number of persons under temporary protection at the end of the month include some persons whose temporary protection status was no longer valid and are not fully comparable with other countries.

France: most of the minors are not included in French data on temporary protection.

Italy: unaccompanied minors fleeing Ukraine are benefitting from another protection scheme than the European temporary protection status.

Data on the number of persons under temporary protection at the end of the month until December 2022 (for the Netherlands) and until January 2024 (for Bulgaria) include some persons whose temporary protection status was no longer valid and are not comparable with data of the following reference periods.

Consequently, comparability over time of EU-27 aggregate on the number of persons under temporary protection at the end of the month is affected.

Not applicable.

Internal consistency (between time, age, sex, country, citizenship) is ensured through various validation checks performed both by national data providers but also by Eurostat before data publication.

The general Eurostat revision policy applies to this domain. According to the policy for routine revisions, monthly and quarterly national data continue to be revised when additional information from national authorities becomes available. If errors are detected in either national data or in European aggregates, they are corrected immediately. Major revisions and changes in methodology which may lead to breaks in time series shall be announced in advance by the national data providers and approved by Eurostat.

The revision practice aligns effectively with the one outlined in sub-concept 17.1 (data revision - policy).

Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated.

Whenever new country data are validated, the already disseminated data are updated. Revisions of aggregates (monthly, quarterly and annual aggregates) are made directly after revisions of country data transmitted to Eurostat. Time series breaks caused by major revisions are flagged. Revisions of monthly or quarterly data are propagated to lower time frequency, that is to say to quarterly and annual data for revised monthly data, to annual data for revised quarterly data.

Major revisions are documented and communicated to users in a methodological note.

Data may be published despite incomplete datasets, with some data missing or flagged as provisional for specific statistics. Such data are replaced with the final versions upon transmission and validation.

The impact of major revisions is analysed in working documents produced for experts meetings held with representatives of the national data providers.

Data are compiled from the administrative records of the national authorities, mainly the Ministries of the Interior, National Statistical Institutes or related immigration agencies.

Data on temporary protection are collected on a monthly and quarterly basis. Missing quarterly data are aggregated from monthly data. Annual data are aggregated from quarterly data.

This data collection is administered by Eurostat. The statistics are collected by the responsible data providers (Ministries of the Interior, National Statistical Institutes or related immigration agencies) and are supplied to Eurostat.

A set of standardised validation checks are applied by Eurostat before publishing the data.

Data providers may transmit the data only in csv (comma separated value) templates (administered by Eurostat to Member States). The new validation service infrastructure is built around two components performing validation operations: one for structural validation (STRUVAL) and one for content validation (CONVAL).

The validation rules below are checked to ensure the internal consistency of the data:

• variable codes and values of data are from a predefined set of accepted code-lists and format;
• statistics are confronted against other relevant data (e.g. a 'total' value of a given disaggregation (dimension) should equal the sum of the disaggregated data);
• investigating inconsistencies in the statistics;
• analysis of size and sign of revision;
• verifying the statistics against expectations and domain intelligence;
• outlier detection.

Based on the national detailed figures transmitted by the national data providers, Eurostat derives European aggregates by applying common calculation method: the geographical aggregation is done by arithmetical sum, when there are no missing values among the components of the respective geographical aggregate. Otherwise, they are not calculated.

Data are rounded to the nearest 5.

Due to the rounding, the sum of individuals may not necessarily match the given total.