In January 2023, 84 740 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in the EU countries, 2 435 more than in December 2022, indicating a small increase of 3%.

In January 2023, there were 6 715 subsequent applicants, a 13% increase compared with December 2022. 

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

 
Most first-time asylum applicants were Syrians and Afghans

As in the previous months, in January 2023, Syrians were the largest group of people seeking asylum (12 960 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (11 055) and Turks (5 625).

Following Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, there was a large increase in Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants (from 2 105 in February 2022 to 12 190 in March 2022), but the numbers have been decreasing monthly (down to 1 030 in January 2023). This is also because people fleeing Ukraine benefit from temporary protection.

In January 2023, the number of first-time asylum applicants with Russian citizenship ranked 7th among all citizenships, with 2 560 applications.

Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Austria account for 79% of first-time asylum applicants

In January 2023, Germany (30 450), France (13 520), Spain (10 885), Italy (8 415) and Austria (4 095) received the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for over three-quarters (79%) of all first-time applicants in the EU.

In total, in the EU as a whole, there were 190 first-time asylum applicants per million people in January 2023.

Compared with the population of each EU Member State (on 1 January 2022), the highest rates of registered first-time applicants in January 2023 were recorded in Cyprus (779 applicants per million people) and Austria (456). By contrast, the lowest rate was observed in Hungary (1).

3 100 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum
 

Source dataset: migr_asyumactm

In January 2023, 3 100 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, +6% compared with December 2022 (2 930). 

Most unaccompanied minors who lodged asylum applications in January 2023 came from Afghanistan (1 195) and Syria (850). 

The EU countries which received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in January 2023 were Germany (1 465), Austria (300), Netherlands (260), Greece (245) and Belgium (215).