The number of foreign nationals in the Czech Republic rose to 1,107,403 at the end of September, an increase by around 16,000 compared to June and by more than 28,000 year-on-year, according to the Interior Ministry’s migration report for the third quarter of 2025. The largest national group among the foreign population is Ukrainians, followed by Slovaks, Vietnamese, and Russians.
According to the ministry, foreign nationals currently make up about 10.2% of the Czech population of 10.9 million, with most living in Prague and the least in the Zlin Region.
As of 5 October, 391,009 foreign nationals were registered in the country for temporary protection, which allows Ukrainian war refugees to access public health insurance, education and the labour market – approximately 35.9 people with temporary protection per 1,000 inhabitants.
The Interior Ministry recorded a significant increase in the applications for temporary protection in September, when it was granted to about 13,500 people. The ministry suggested that the increase was related to a Ukrainian government regulation that allowed men aged 18 to 22 to leave the country without restrictions.
More than 6,400 Ukrainians have been granted temporary protection in the past month, according to Interior Ministry statistics, leaving the total as of midnight on Sunday at 397,421. According to the Interior Ministry, 23.7% of the temporary protection holders were children under 18, and 4.3% were seniors, while women accounted for just under 60%.
Most of those with temporary protection live in Prague and in the Central Bohemia and South Moravia regions.
In total, almost 594,000 Ukrainians were legally residing in the Czech Republic at the end of September, as well as over 124,000 Slovaks, about 69,000 Vietnamese, and about 38,000 Russians. One fifth of the foreign nationals registered as residing in the Czech Republic were citizens from EU countries, the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, while 80% were from so-called “third countries”. The statistics do not include unregistered EU citizens or those who are in the Czech Republic on a short-term Schengen visa.
The Czech Republic registered 884 asylum applications from January to the end of September, with the most frequent applicants for international protection being from Vietnam, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Moldova.
In the same period, the Czech Republic granted asylum to 57 people, while another 96 were given subsidiary protection. The number of applications and asylum granted has been decreasing in recent years – in 2022, the Czech Republic granted asylum in 92 cases and subsidiary protection in 387 cases.
According to the Ministry, 7,823 foreign nationals were found to be illegally resident in the Czech Republic between January and September. Another 305 people attempted to cross the external Schengen borders at the Czech Republic’s international airports without legal permission, according to the report. The number of foreign nationals detected during migration status checks has thus increased by about 1,000 year-on-year.
The ministry recorded a significant drop of more than 60% in transit migration, during which police officers detained 112 people.
According to the report, the Centres for Supporting the Integration of Foreigners organised 347 integration courses, attended by more than 6,000 foreign nationals in the Czech Republic from January to September. By the end of September, the centres served nearly 62,000 people.
Temporary protection holders in Czech regions (as of October 5, 2025):
| Prague | 101,524 |
| Central Bohemia | 56,572 |
| South Moravia | 40,555 |
| Plzen | 32,535 |
| Moravia-Silesia | 20,173 |
| Usti | 18,323 |
| South Bohemia | 17,893 |
| Pardubice | 17,832 |
| Hradec Kralove | 17,079 |
| Liberec | 15,594 |
| Vysocina | 15,221 |
| Karlovy Vary | 13,338 |
| Olomouc | 12,523 |
| Zlin | 11,731 |
Source: Quarterly Migration Report of Czech Interior Ministry
