In 2020, 13 600 asylum applicants in the EU Member States were considered to be unaccompanied minors, down by 4% compared with 2019 (14 100), continuing the downward trend that started after the peak year 2015 (92 000).
Unaccompanied minors accounted for 10% of all asylum applicants aged less than 18 in the EU in 2020. The majority (88%) were males. 67% were aged 16 to 17 (9 100 persons), while those aged 14 to 15 accounted for 22% (3 000 persons) and those aged less than 14 for 11% (1 500 persons).
Afghan, Syrian and Pakistani: main citizenships of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum
The top countries of citizenship of asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors were Afghanistan, Syria and Pakistan, together accounting for two-thirds of all asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in the EU Member States in 2020.
Afghan (5 500 unaccompanied asylum seeking minors, or 41% of the EU total) continued to be the main citizenship of unaccompanied minors in the EU Member States, as was the case since 2008 (i.e. the beginning of the time series). Syrian (2 300 or 17% of the EU total) was the second main citizenship for the second year in a row. Pakistani (1 100 or 8% of the EU total) continued to be the third main citizenship as was the case in 2019.
Source datasets: migr_asyunaa
Highest number of applications in Greece and Germany
With 2 800 applications registered in 2020, Greece accounted for over 20% of all asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors in the EU. It was followed by Germany (2 200, or 16%), Austria (1 400, or 10%) and Belgium (1 200, or 9%), the Netherlands and Romania (1 000, or 7% each). These six countries together accounted for over 70% of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in the EU.
Looking at the top three citizenships of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, nearly half of the Afghans applied in Greece (900), Belgium or Romania (800 each) in 2020. 60% of the Syrians sought protection in Germany (500), the Netherlands or Austria (400 each), while the great majority (68%) of the Pakistanis applied in Greece (700).
Source datasets: migr_asyunaa
For more information:
- Application for international protection means an application for international protection as defined in Art. 2(h) of Council 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.
- Eurostat Statistics Explained article on asylum annual data
- Eurostat database on asylum and managed migration
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