• March 20, 2025
• Population

First-time asylum applications down 13% in 2024

In 2024, 912 000 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, down by 13% compared with 2023 (1 049 500).

This information comes from data on asylum applicants published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.

Source dataset: migr_asyappctza

Syrian, Venezuelan and Afghan – main citizenships of first-time applicants

Syria has been the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU since 2013. In 2024, Syrians lodged 148 000 first-time applications (16% of the total number of first-time applications in the EU), followed by Venezuela with 72 800 applications (8% of the EU total). Afghanistan, which had been the second main country of citizenship for 6 consecutive years, ranked 3rd with 72 200 applications (8%).

Source dataset: migr_asyappctza

25% of EU asylum applications were made in Germany

With 229 700 first-time asylum applicants registered in 2024, Germany continued to be the EU country with the highest number of applicants, accounting for a quarter of all first-time applicants in the EU (25%). It was followed by Spain (164 000, 18%), Italy (151 100, 17%), France (130 900, 14%), and Greece (69 000, 8%). These 5 EU countries together accounted for 82% of all first-time asylum applicants in the EU last year.

Highest number of first-time asylum applicants relative to the population in Cyprus

Compared with the population of each EU country, the highest number of registered first-time asylum applicants in 2024 was recorded in Cyprus (7.2 first-time applicants per 1 000 people), followed by Greece (6.6), Ireland and Spain (each 3.4), and Luxembourg (3.2).

Relative to the EU population, there were 2 first-time asylum applicants per 1 000 people in 2024.

32% of unaccompanied minors were from Syria

In 2024, 36 300 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, with 32% coming from Syria (11 600), followed by applications from Afghanistan (5 700, 16%), Egypt (3 000, 8%), Somalia (2 400, 7%) and Guinea (1 300, 4%).

The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (13 300, 37% of the total), the Netherlands (4 300, 12%), Greece (4 000, 11%), Spain (3 300, 9%) and Bulgaria (2 600, 7%).

Source: Eurostat, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product?code=ddn-20250320-1