EU Sees 12% Drop in Asylum Applications in March 2024, Led by Syrians, Afghans, and Venezuelans

In March 2024, the European Union saw 73,445 first-time asylum applications from non-EU citizens, marking a 12% decrease from the 83,915 applications recorded in March 2023. Additionally, there were 7,050 subsequent applications, a 6% drop from the 7,475 in the previous year. These figures were released today by Eurostat, based on their monthly asylum data.

Syrians, Afghans, and Venezuelans continue to be the most significant groups seeking asylum. Specifically, in March 2024, Syrians led with 10,470 first-time applicants, followed by Afghans with 5,735, and Venezuelans with 5,440.

Germany, Italy, Spain, and France received the majority of these applicants, with 16,430 in Germany, 15,115 in Italy, 13,255 in Spain, and 10,540 in France, collectively accounting for 75% of all first-time applicants in the EU. On average, the EU had 16.4 first-time applicants per 100,000 people in March 2024.

When comparing the rates of first-time applicants to the population of each EU country as of January 1, 2023, Cyprus and Greece had the highest rates, with 124.0 and 36.0 applicants per 100,000 people, respectively.

Moreover, 2,340 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU in March 2024. The majority were from Syria (785) and Afghanistan (325). Germany and the Netherlands received the highest number of these applications, with 920 and 455 respectively.