First-time asylum applications down 13% in 2024

individual takes passport over a desk with papers in it

In 2024, 912 000 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, down by 13% compared with 2023 (1 049 500).

This information comes from data on asylum applicants published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.

Source dataset: migr_asyappctza

Syrian, Venezuelan and Afghan – main citizenships of first-time applicants

Syria has been the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU since 2013. In 2024, Syrians lodged 148 000 first-time applications (16% of the total number of first-time applications in the EU), followed by Venezuela with 72 800 applications (8% of the EU total). Afghanistan, which had been the second main country of citizenship for 6 consecutive years, ranked 3rd with 72 200 applications (8%).

Source dataset: migr_asyappctza

25% of EU asylum applications were made in Germany

With 229 700 first-time asylum applicants registered in 2024, Germany continued to be the EU country with the highest number of applicants, accounting for a quarter of all first-time applicants in the EU (25%). It was followed by Spain (164 000, 18%), Italy (151 100, 17%), France (130 900, 14%), and Greece (69 000, 8%). These 5 EU countries together accounted for 82% of all first-time asylum applicants in the EU last year.

Highest number of first-time asylum applicants relative to the population in Cyprus

Compared with the population of each EU country, the highest number of registered first-time asylum applicants in 2024 was recorded in Cyprus (7.2 first-time applicants per 1 000 people), followed by Greece (6.6), Ireland and Spain (each 3.4), and Luxembourg (3.2).

Relative to the EU population, there were 2 first-time asylum applicants per 1 000 people in 2024.

32% of unaccompanied minors were from Syria

In 2024, 36 300 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, with 32% coming from Syria (11 600), followed by applications from Afghanistan (5 700, 16%), Egypt (3 000, 8%), Somalia (2 400, 7%) and Guinea (1 300, 4%).

The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (13 300, 37% of the total), the Netherlands (4 300, 12%), Greece (4 000, 11%), Spain (3 300, 9%) and Bulgaria (2 600, 7%).

For more information

Methodological notes

Application for international protection means an application for international protection as defined in the Art. 2(h) of Directive 2011/95/EU, i.e., including requests for refugee status or for subsidiary protection status, irrespective of whether the application was lodged on arrival at the border, or from inside the country, and irrespective of whether the person entered the territory legally (e.g. as a tourist) or illegally.
First-time asylum applicant/seeker means a person having submitted an application for international protection or having been included in such an application as a family member, for the first time. Applications submitted by persons who are subsequently found to be a subject of a Dublin procedure are included in the statistics on first-time asylum applicants if such persons are also a subject of first asylum application. A person can be recorded as a first-time applicant only if he or she had never applied for international protection in the reporting country in the past, irrespective of the fact that he or she is found to have applied in another Member State of the European Union.
Unaccompanied minor means a minor (aged less than 18) who arrives on the territory of the Member States unaccompanied by an adult responsible for him or her whether by law or by the practice of the Member State concerned, and for as long as he or she is not effectively taken into the care of such a person. It includes a minor who is left unaccompanied after he or she has entered the territory of the Member States.
In this news article, the data are rounded to the nearest 100.
Data for 2024: estimation due to missing data for Portugal for December 2024.
Poland: data on unaccompanied minors are not available for 2024. EU aggregate has been computed based on available data.