Nearly 175,000 Belarusians relocated to EU in 2024, almost one million over five years

Eurostat defines a «first-time residence permit» as any document issued for the first time that grants the right to live in an EU country for more than three consecutive months. This includes residence permits and national long-term (type D) visas, such as humanitarian, work, study, and other categories. The figures do not include temporary protection, short-term visas of up to 90 days, or extensions or replacements of previously issued documents.

In 2024, Belarusians received 174,790 first-time residence permits in EU countries. This represents a 38% decrease compared to 2023, when 281,503 permits were issued. Poland issued the most permits — 151,116, which is 41% fewer than the previous year. Lithuania ranked second (15,812, -2%), followed by Germany (1,411, -34%) and Spain (1,404, +23%). Portugal and Hungary also showed significant percentage increases, but the top four countries accounted for more than 97% of all first-time permits Belarusians received in the EU in 2024.

In terms of age demographics, working-age people primarily left Belarus for Europe. Almost 79% of first-time residence permits in 2024 were issued to Belarusians aged 20 to 59. The majority went to those aged 30-39 years.

Regarding the grounds for obtaining permits, across the EU, 55% of permits were issued for work purposes, 38% for «other reasons,» 4% for family reunification, and 3% for study. However, the distribution of reasons varies significantly from country to country.

According to Eurostat, the highest number of first-time permits issued to Belarusians was in 2022, at 311,516. In 2021, there were 150,028, and in 2020 — 63,920. The total for the past five years comes to approximately one million permits.