In April 2022, 54 145 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in the EU Member States, up 66% compared with April 2021 (32 570) and down 28% compared with March 2022 (74 950).
The decrease from March to April 2022 can be attributed in large part to the decrease in Ukrainian first-time applicants (from 12 885 in March to 1 510 in April; -88%), whose numbers had increased in March due to the military aggression of Russia on Ukraine.
In April 2022, there were also 5 555 subsequent applicants (people who reapplied for asylum after a decision had been taken on a previous application). This was up 2% when compared with April 2021, and down 16% compared with March 2022.
This information comes from 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
Most first-time asylum applicants were Afghans
In April 2022, Afghans were the largest group of persons seeking asylum (7 255 first-time applicants). They were followed by Syrians (6 485), ahead of Venezuelans (3 655), Colombians (2 705) and Turks (2 600).
Germany reports the most first-time asylum applicants
With 12 465 first-time applicants registered in April 2022, Germany accounted for 23% of all first-time applicants in the EU. Germany was followed by France (9 540, 18%), ahead of Spain (7 695, 14%), Italy (4 700, 9%), Austria (4 690, 9%) and the Netherlands (2 230, 4%). These six Member States together accounted for over three quarters (76%) of all first-time applicants in the EU.
2 260 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in the EU, of which half were Afghans
In April 2022, among the EU Member States for which data are available, 2 260 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time, up by 73% compared with April 2021 (1 310) and down 15% compared with March 2022 (2 650).
Most unaccompanied minors who lodged asylum applications in April 2022 came from Afghanistan (1 130), Syria (375) and Pakistan (115).
Austria (610), Germany (370) and Bulgaria (340) were the three Member States that received the highest numbers of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in April 2022.
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on monthly asylum statistics
- Statistics Explained article on annual asylum statistics
- Dedicated section on migration and asylum statistics
- Database on asylum statistics
Methodological information:
- Due to temporary derogations, data on subsequent applicants are not available for Denmark, Cyprus and Sweden, and on unaccompanied minor asylum applicants for France, Cyprus and Poland. As a result, these Member States were not included in the calculation of the respective EU totals. A complete list of such derogations is provided in the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/431.
- Statistics on asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors presented in the article refers to the age accepted by the national authorities, however before the age assessment procedure was carried out/completed (i.e. it refers to the age as claimed by the applicant).
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