During the third quarter of 2020, some 111 700 first-time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the European Union (EU). This was up by 132% compared with the second quarter of 2020. However, in spite of this increase, the number of applications was still lower than for the pre-COVID-19 reporting periods of the third (159 900) and the fourth quarter of 2019 (172 200).
Most applications from Syrians, Afghans and Venezuelans
With 18 100 first-time applicants in Q3 2020, Syrians remained the largest group of persons seeking international protection in the EU Member States, ahead of Afghans (11 200 first-time applicants) and Venezuelans (9 600). Citizens of these countries comprised the three main citizenships of first-time asylum applicants in the EU Member States, and accounted for over one-third (35%) of all first-time asylum applicants in Q3 2020.
Most applicants for asylum in Germany, Spain and France
The highest number of first-time applicants in Q3 2020 was registered in Germany (with 27 200 first-time asylum applicants, or 24% of total first-time applicants in the EU Member States), followed by Spain (26 900, or 24%) and France (21 700, or 19%). These three Member States together accounted for over two-thirds (68 %) of all first-time asylum applicants in the EU in Q3 2020.
Highest number of first-time applicants relative to the population in Cyprus
Compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rate of registered first-time applicants in Q3 2020 was recorded in Cyprus (1 848 first-time applicants per million population), Malta (1 320) and Greece (799). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Hungary (1 applicant per million population), Poland (8) and Estonia (9). There were in total 249 first-time asylum applicants per million population in the EU in Q3 2020.
Almost 800 000 asylum applications still pending
Pending applications for international protection are those that have been made at any time and are still under consideration by the relevant national authorities at the end of the reference period. In other words, they refer to the “stock” of applications for which decisions are still pending.
At the end of September 2020, 790 800 applications for asylum protection in the EU Member States were under consideration by the national authorities, a decrease of 14% compared with September 2019 and a decrease of 6% compared with June 2020. With 268 200 pending applications at the end of September 2020, Germany had the largest share in the EU (34% of the EU total), ahead of France (154 300, or 20%), Spain (101 400, or 13%) and Greece (75 700, or 10%).
For more information on this topic:
- Latest Statistics Explained article on quarterly asylum data
- Statistics Explained article with annual asylum data
- Interactive visualisation with quarterly asylum data (Q3/2020)
- The source data can be found in Eurostat dataset migr_asyappctzm (first-time asylum applicants – monthly data) and migr_asypenctzm (asylum applications pending – monthly data)
Note: The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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