In May 2022, 63 105 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in the EU Member States, up 89% compared with May 2021 (33 385) and up 17% compared with April 2022 (54 145).
The increase from April to May 2022 can be attributed in part to increases in Venezuelan (from 3 655 in April to 4 820 in May; +32%) and Syrian first-time applicants (from 6 485 to 8 025; +24%).
In May 2022, there were also 6 280 subsequent applicants (people who reapplied for asylum after a decision had been taken on a previous application). This was up 20% compared with May 2021, and up 13% compared with April 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 Syrians
In May 2022, Syrians were the largest group of persons seeking asylum (8 025 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (7 695), ahead of Venezuelans (4 820), Colombians (3 535) and Pakistanis (2 890).
In March 2022, there was a large increase in Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants (from 2 370 in February to 12 885 in March) due to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. However, the numbers decreased to 1 510 and 1 295 respectively in April and May 2022.
Germany reports the most first-time asylum applicants
With 13 855 first-time applicants registered in May 2022, Germany accounted for 22% of all first-time applicants in the EU. Germany was followed by Spain (10 200, 16%), ahead of France (9 800, 16%), Italy (6 450, 10%) and Austria (5 645, 9%).
These five Member States together accounted for nearly three-quarters (73%) of all first-time applicants in the EU.
2 635 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in the EU, of which around half were Afghans
In May 2022, 2 635 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU Member States, up by 97% compared with May 2021 (1 335) and up 17% compared with April 2022 (2 260). This is among the EU Member States for which data are available.
Most unaccompanied minors who lodged asylum applications in May 2022 came from Afghanistan (1 215), Syria (460) and Somalia (165).
Austria (770), Germany (435) and Bulgaria (320) were the three Member States that received the highest numbers of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in May 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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