Refugees from Ukraine working in the Czech Republic paid CZK 6.9 billion in taxes and health and social insurance in the first quarter, compared to CZK 3.8 billion paid by the Czech state for humanitarian benefits, accommodation, healthcare, education and other support, Labour Minister Marian Jurecka told journalists yesterday.
At the end of April, 158,000 people with temporary protection had jobs in the Czech Republic. The number of workers is increasing, while the number of benefit recipients is decreasing.
According to Jurecka (KDU-CSL), the income from refugees in tax and other contributions overtook state expenditures from the third quarter of 2023.
“There is clearly a positive development from the third quarter of 2023, in which the income from the labour activity of these people is steadily growing,” Jurecka said. “For the last quarter, it was about CZK 6.9 billion. For all the assistance that we provide – whether it is humanitarian benefit, health, education and so on – CZK 3.8 billion have been spent. The clear difference is 3.1 billion in the first quarter.”
Spending on refugees includes humanitarian benefits, health, education, foreign aid and accommodation, while the state’s revenue comes from health and social insurance payments, VAT and excise tax as well as income tax, the ministry press department clarified.
The minister said that 158,000 people with temporary protection had jobs in April, up from 114,000 people a year ago and 89,000 two years ago. “The trend is very good. We are the country with the highest share of people with temporary protection active on the labour market in the European Union,” Jurecka noted.
The humanitarian benefit, which is for refugee households with incomes below their living wage and set living costs, was paid out to 86,000 people in April, more than half of whom were children. Another 17% were elderly, disabled and their carers, the minister said.
Jurecka also said the number of benefit recipients had been steadily declining. A year ago, 94,000 people were receiving the benefit, two years ago it was 149,000, and in the first year of the war, 234,000.
“The system is very efficient and knows how to target support to the most vulnerable,” the minister added.
According to the figures presented by the labour ministry yesterday, the state has spent a total of CZK 41.3 billion on refugee support since the beginning of 2023, and has received CZK 49.8 billion from workers with temporary protection. Last year, they paid CZK 23.5 billion, while receiving CZK 17.5 billion in aid.
In 2023, the expenditure was equivalent to CZK 22 billion, and income to CZK 19.4 billion. According to earlier information from the ministry, in the first year of the war, CZK 25 billion was spent on refugee aid and income from those workers totalled CZK 12.6 billion. The aid expenditure from 2022 onwards is thus higher than the total revenues by about CZK 3.9 billion.
Refugee support expenditure and income from workers with temporary protection (in CZK billions):
| Expenditure | Revenue | |
| 2022 | 25.0 | 12.6 |
| Q1 2023 | 7.0 | 4.9 |
| Q2 2023 | 6.4 | 4.5 |
| Q3 2023 | 4.4 | 4.8 |
| Q4 2023 | 4.2 | 5.2 |
| Q1 2024 | 3.8 | 5.5 |
| Q2 2024 | 3.7 | 5.5 |
| Q3 2024 | 4.0 | 5.9 |
| Q4 2024 | 4.0 | 6.6 |
| Q1 2025 | 3.8 | 6.9 |
| Total | 66.3 | 62.4 |
Source: Ministry of Labour
