85 855 asylum applications in January 2024

In January 2024, 85 855 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, a 3% increase compared with January 2023 (83 310). 

There were also 7 180 subsequent applicants, representing a 1% decrease compared with January 2023 (7 265).

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, Afghans, Turks and Venezuelans remain the largest groups of asylum seekers

In January 2024, Syrians remained the largest group of people seeking asylum (13 445 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (7 185), Turks (6 380) and Venezuelans (6 210). 

Germany, Spain, Italy and France make up 75% of all first-time asylum applicants

Germany (26 375), Spain (13 705), Italy (12 920) and France (11 620) continued to receive the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 75% of all first-time applicants in the EU.

In January 2024, the EU total of first-time asylum applicants was 19.1 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 January 2024 were recorded in Cyprus (106.0) and Greece (58.7).

2 655 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in EU countries

In January 2024, 2 655 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, with most coming from Syria (810) and Afghanistan (480).

 Source dataset: migr_asyumactm

The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (935), the Netherlands (385), Greece (255), Italy (225) and Spain (215).