Eurostat newsrelease: The number of asylum applicants registered in the EU27 rose to 301000 in 2011
On 23 March 2012 a newsrelease was issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the Europeon Union, on the number of asylum applicants and asylum decisions in the EU27 in 2011.
With regard to 2011 the conclusions are:
- In 2011 there were 301 000 asylum applicants registered in the EU27. In 2010 there were 259 000 asylum applicants.
- In 2011 the main countries of citizenship of these applicants were Afghanistan (9%), Russia (6%), Pakistan (5%), Iraq (5%) and Serbia (5%).
- In 2011 the highest number of (non-EU) applicants was registered in France (56 300), followed by Germany (53 300), Italy (34 100), Belgium (31 900) and Sweden (29 700).
- When compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rates of applicants registered was recorded in Malta, Luxembourg, Sweden, Belgium and Cyprus.
- In the EU27 237 400 first instance decisions were made on asylum applications, of which 75% were rejections.
- The proportion of positive decisions varies considerably amoung Member States, but it should be kept in mind that the country of origin of applicants also differs between Member States.
The document with the complete statistical tables can be downloaded here. The document is only available in English and French.