EU received over 83 000 asylum applications in June 2023

In June 2023, 83 385 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, indicating a 25% increase compared with June 2022 (66 845). There were also 5 795 subsequent applicants, representing a 9% decrease compared with June 2022 (6 365).

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

Syrian nationals: largest group of asylum-seekers

As in previous months, in June 2023, Syrians were the largest group of people seeking asylum (13 150 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (7 775), ahead of Venezuelans (6 925) and Colombians (6 165).

Following Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, there was a significant increase in Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants (from 2 100 in February 2022 to 12 185 in March 2022), but the numbers have been decreasing monthly, down to 1 065 in June 2023. This is also because people fleeing Ukraine benefit from temporary protection.

Germany, Spain, France and Italy received 75% of all first-time asylum applicants

Similarly to previous months, in June 2023, Germany (23 190), Spain (16 075), France (12 475) and Italy (10 730) continued to receive the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 75% of all first-time applicants in the EU.

In June 2023, the EU total of first-time asylum applicants was 0.186 per thousand people.
Compared with the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2023), the highest rate of registered first-time applicants in June 2023 was recorded in Cyprus (0.799 applicants per thousand people), ahead of Austria (0.519). By contrast, the lowest rate was observed in Hungary (0.0004).

2 975 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in EU countries

Source dataset: migr_asyumactm

In June 2023, 2 975 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, mostly from Syria (980) and Afghanistan (910).

The EU countries which received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in June 2023 were Germany (805), followed by Austria (570) and the Netherlands (445).