77 755 asylum applications in December 2023

In December 2023, 77 755 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, a 3% decrease compared with December 2022 (80 540). 

There were also 5 595 subsequent applicants, representing a 12% decrease compared with December 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 

Syrians, Turks, and Afghans remain largest groups of asylum seekers

In December 2023, Syrians remained the largest group of people seeking asylum (13 945 first-time applicants). They were followed by Turks (7 710), Afghans (6 055), Venezuelans (4 780) and Colombians (4 105). 

Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and Greece make up 79% of all first-time asylum applicants

Germany (23 020), France (11 435), Spain (10 750), Italy (10 160) and Greece (6 260) continued to receive the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 79% of all first-time applicants in the EU.

In December 2023, the EU total of first-time asylum applicants was 17.3 per hundred thousand people.

Compared with the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2023), the highest rates of registered first-time applicants in December 2023 were recorded in Cyprus (111.2) and Greece (60.2).

2 315 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in EU countries

In December 2023, 2 315 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, with most coming from Syria (775) and Afghanistan (375).

 Source dataset: migr_asyumactm

The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (740), the Netherlands (450), Greece (245), Belgium (205) and Spain (205).