76 695 asylum applications in April 2024

In April 2024, 76 695 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, a 12% increase compared with April 2023 (68 535).
There were also 7 260 subsequent applicants, representing a 26% increase compared with April 2023 (5 750).
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, Venezuelans and Afghans remain the largest groups of asylum seekers
In April 2024, Syrians remained the largest group of people seeking asylum (12 075 first-time applicants). They were followed by Venezuelans (6 125) and Afghans (5 610).
Germany, Spain, Italy and France receive 76% of all first-time applicants
Germany (18 585), Spain (15 430), Italy (13 485) and France (10 505) continued to receive the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 76% of all first-time applicants in the EU.
In April 2024, the EU total of first-time asylum applicants was 17.1 per hundred thousand people.
Compared with the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2024), the highest rates of first-time applicants were recorded in Cyprus (163.6), followed by Ireland (37.9), Greece (36) and Spain (31.7).
2 790 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum
In April 2024, 2 790 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, with most of them coming from Syria (935) and Afghanistan (405).
Source dataset: migr_asyumactm
The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (1 165), ahead of the Netherlands (455).
For more information
- Statistics Explained article on monthly asylum statistics
- Statistics Explained article on annual asylum statistics
- News article on people granted temporary protection in May 2024
- Thematic section on migration and asylum statistics
- Database on asylum statistics
Methodological notes
- First-time applications: April 2024 data not available for Czechia, March 2024 data used.
- Subsequent applications: new data collection from the reference year 2021. The total is based on available data. Czechia: April 2024 data not available, March 2024 data used. Cyprus: due to temporary derogations, data on subsequent applications are not available until December 2023, therefore Cyprus is not included in the total calculated until December 2023. Denmark: not applicable, therefore Denmark is not included in the total calculated.
- First-time applications of unaccompanied minors: Czechia: April 2024 data not available, March 2024 data used. Poland: data from January 2024 to April 2024 are not available, as a result, Poland is not included in the calculation.
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