73 445 asylum applications in March 2024
In March 2024, 73 445 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, a 12% decrease compared with March 2023 (83 915).
There were also 7 050 subsequent applicants, representing a 6% decrease compared with March 2023 (7 475).
This information comes from the monthly asylum data published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on monthly asylum statistics.
Source dataset: migr_asyappctzm
Syrians, Afghans and Venezuelans remain the largest groups of asylum seekers
In March 2024, Syrians remained the largest group of people seeking asylum (10 470 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (5 735) and Venezuelans (5 440).
Germany, Italy, Spain and France receive 75% of all first-time applicants
Germany (16 430), Italy (15 115), Spain (13 255) and France (10 540) continued to receive the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 75% of all first-time applicants in the EU.
In March 2024, the EU total of first-time asylum applicants was 16.4 per hundred thousand people.
Compared with the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2023), the highest rates of first-time applicants were recorded in Cyprus (124.0) and Greece (36.0).
2 340 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum
In March 2024, 2 340 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, with most coming from Syria (785) and Afghanistan (325).
Source dataset: migr_asyumactm
The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (920) and the Netherlands (455).
For more information
- Statistics Explained article on monthly asylum statistics
- Statistics Explained article on annual asylum statistics
- News article on people granted temporary protection in April 2024
- Thematic section on migration and asylum statistics
- Database on asylum statistics
Methodological notes
- First-time applications: February and March 2024 data not available for Czechia, January 2024 data used.
- Subsequent applications: new data collection from the reference year 2021. The total is based on available data. Czechia: February and March 2024 data not available, January 2024 data used. Cyprus: due to temporary derogations data on subsequent applications are not available until December 2023, therefore Cyprus in not included in the total calculated until December 2023. Denmark: not applicable, therefore Denmark is not included in the total calculated.
- First-time applications of unaccompanied minors: Czechia: February 2024 and March 2024 data not available, January 2024 data used. Poland: data from January 2024 to March 2024 are not available, as a result, Poland is not included in the calculation.
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