In 2022, 881,200 first-time asylum applicants applied for international protection in E.U. countries, up by 64% compared with 2021 (537,400).
The country that received the most applications relative to its population was Cyprus, Eurostat data released on Thursday show.
Specifically, in 2022, Cyprus received 23,864 first-time applications per million people, which is around 12 times the E.U. average of 1,973 applications per million people.
It also marks a 45.5% increase from 2021, when 13,670 first-time asylum applications were lodged on the island.
Austria had the second most applications relative to its population, as it received 11,848 applications per one million people, nearly half of how many Cyprus received.
One-quarter of EU asylum applications were made in Germany
However, in absolute numbers, Germany was the E.U. country with the most first-time asylum applications, as 217,735 people requested asylum there in 2022, which is around one-quarter of all first-time applicants in the E.U.
Germany was followed by France (137 510, or 16%) and Spain (116 135, or 13%), ahead of Austria (106 380, or 12%) and Italy (77 200, or 9%). These five E.U. members together accounted for three-quarters (75%) of all first-time asylum applicants in the E.U.
The lowest numbers were in Hungary, where there were only five first-time asylum applications per million people. Slovakia followed with 92 applications per one million people.
Syrian, Afghan, Venezuelan and Turkish – main citizenships of first-time asylum applicants
Almost half (46%) of the first-time asylum applicants in 2022 had Asian citizenship, while 22% had African citizenship, 17% had European citizenship (non-E.U.) and 14% had North or South American citizenship, Eurostat notes.
Syria continues to be the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the E.U. since 2013. In 2022, Syrians lodged 131,970 first-time applications (15% of the total number of first-time applications in the E.U.).
Afghanistan was the second main country of citizenship for the fourth consecutive year (113,495, or 13% of the E.U. total).
Applicants from Venezuela and Türkiye each represented almost 6% of the E.U. total, with 50,050 and 49,720 applications, respectively. Colombia was the fifth main country of citizenship in 2022, totalling 42,420 applicants (5% of the E.U. total).
Ukrainian refugees
In 2022, the E.U. members granted 4,331,200 temporary protection statuses to non-E.U. citizens fleeing Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion. On 31 December 2022, 3,82, 600 non-E.U. citizens benefitted from temporary protection in the E.U.
The difference between the two previous figures corresponds to the termination of the temporary protection status because former beneficiaries of temporary protection meanwhile left the country or obtained another status.
(Picture by Vanja Stokic)
