A person handing a passport to another person sitting across the table with a personal file between them.

In September 2023, 98 240 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, a 10% increase compared with September 2022 (89 370). 

There were also 5 265 subsequent applicants, representing a 20% decrease compared with September 2022 (6 555).

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.

First time and subsequent asylum applications in the EU countries, number of applications, January 2019 - September 2023

Source dataset: migr_asyappctzm 

Syrian nationals remain the largest group of asylum-seekers

As in previous months, in September 2023, Syrians continued to be the largest group of people seeking asylum (19 220 first-time applicants). They were followed by Turks (10 200) ahead of Afghans (9 215), Venezuelans (5 290) and Colombians (5 230). 

Germany, Spain, France and Italy received 67% of all first-time asylum applicants

Similarly to previous months, in September 2023, Germany (27 885), Spain (13 395), France (13 100) and Italy (11 930) continued to receive the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 67% of all first-time applicants in the EU.

In September 2023, the EU total of first-time asylum applicants was 21.9 per hundred thousand people. Compared with the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2023), the highest rate of registered first-time applicants in September 2023 was recorded in Austria (87.6 applicants per hundred thousand people), followed by Cyprus (79.3) and Greece (74.7). By contrast, the lowest rate was observed in Hungary (0.03).

4 055 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in EU countries

In September 2023, 4 055 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, mostly from Syria (1 575) and Afghanistan (980).

Unaccompanied minors in the EU, September 2023; number of applicants applying for asylum for the first time

Source dataset: migr_asyumactm

The EU countries which received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were the Netherlands (910), followed by Germany (775), Austria (705), Bulgaria (490) and Greece (380). 
 

For more information

Methodology notes

  • Subsequent applications: new data collection from reference year 2021. Total based on available data.
  • Cyprus and Sweden: due to temporary derogations data on subsequent applications are not available. Therefore, these countries are not included in the total calculated.
  • Denmark: not applicable. Therefore, it is not included in the total calculated.
  • Data on unaccompanied minor asylum applicants for France are not available.
  • Due to temporary derogations, data on unaccompanied minor asylum applicants for Cyprus and Poland are not available. As a result, these Member States were not included in the calculation.

 
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