213,200 first time asylum seekers apply for protection in the EU in April to June, 85% more than in 2014, UK sees around 7% increase
The European Union's (EU) Eurostat reported on Friday that the second quarter of 2015 saw 213,200 first time asylum seekers apply for protection in the EU, a 15% increase over the first quarter of 2015 and an 85% increase compared with the corresponding second quarter of 2014.
First time asylum applicants, EU-28, January 2014 – June 2015. Source: Eurostat
The country of origin producing the most asylum seekers in the EU during April to June 2015 was Syria, with 44,000 or 21% of all applicants.
Afghanistan was second with 27,000 asylum applicants (13% of the total), while Albania was third with 17,700 first time applicants (or 8% of the EU total). Eurostat notes that 90% of those Albanian asylum seekers applied in Germany.
The rest of the top 10 were comprised of Iraq 6%, Kosovo 5%, Eritrea 4%, Pakistan 4%, Nigeria 3%, Ukraine 3%, and Somalia 2%.
With 80,900 first time applicants (38% of the total in the EU), Germany remained the country receiving the highest number of asylum seekers, though the total registered in the second quarter of 2015 increased by only 11%. The Netherlands saw the biggest increase between first and second quarters, with an increase of 159%.
The UK saw a modest 2% increase in asylum seekers during April to June 2015 compared to January to March, receiving 3.5% of the total in the EU. Compared to the second quarter of 2014, the number of applicants in the UK saw an increase of just under 7%.
The countries with the highest number of applicants after Germany were Hungary (32,700, or 15%), Austria (17,400, or 8%), Italy (14,900, or 7%), France (14,700, or 7%) and Sweden (14,300, or 7%).
At the end of June 2015, around 592,000 persons were the subject of an application for asylum protection in the EU still under consideration by the responsible national authority.
You can access the full Eurostat data from here.