During the third quarter of 2015 (from July to September 2015), 413 800 first time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the European Union (EU), a number almost double that of the second quarter of 2015.
During the third quarter of 2015, the number of Syrians and Iraqis seeking international protection has more than tripled compared with the previous quarter to reach almost 138 000 and 44 500 respectively; while the number of Afghans has doubled to more than 56 500. They represent the three main citizenships of first time asylum applicants in the EU Member States over the third quarter 2015, accounting for more than half of all first time applicants.
More than half applied for asylum in Germany or Hungary
During the third quarter 2015, the highest number of first time applicants was registered in Germany and Hungary (both with slightly over 108 000 first time applicants, or 26% each of total first time applicants in the EU Member States), followed by Sweden (42 500, or 10%), Italy (28 400, or 7%) and Austria (27 600, or 7%). Compared with the previous quarter, the number of first time asylum applicants in the third quarter 2015 notably jumped in Finland (+842%), Hungary (+231%), Sweden (+197%), Belgium (+191%), Luxembourg (+154%), the Netherlands (+136%), Denmark (+121%), Poland (+110%) and Italy (+91%).
Highest number of first time applicants relative to the population in Hungary
Compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rate of registered first time applicants during the third quarter 2015 was recorded in Hungary (10 974 first time applicants per million inhabitants), ahead of Sweden (4 362), Austria (3 215), Finland (2 765), Germany (1 334), Belgium (1 301) and Luxembourg (1 108). In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Slovakia (3 applicants per million inhabitants), Croatia (8), Romania (14), Portugal (21) and the Czech Republic (25). In the third quarter 2015, there were in total 814 first time asylum applicants per million inhabitants in the EU Member States.
One out of three first time asylum seekers originates from Syria
Syria (33% of the total number of first time applicants) was again during the third quarter of 2015 the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU Member States. Of the 137 900 Syrians who applied for the first time for asylum in the EU in the third quarter 2015, almost two-thirds were registered in two Member States: Hungary (53 100) and Germany (35 800). In total, Syrians represented the main citizenship of asylum seekers in eleven EU Member States.
Afghanistan (14% of the total number of first time applicants) remained the second main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU Member States in the third quarter 2015. Of the 56 700 Afghans seeking asylum protection for the first time in the EU Member States during the period July-September 2015, nearly half (27 600) applied in Hungary.
With 44 400 first time applicants (or 11% of the EU total) during the third quarter 2015, Iraq was the third country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU Member States. More than a quarter of them applied in Finland (11 600).
Over 800 000 asylum applications pending
Pending applications refer to all persons who have made, at any time, an application for international protection which is still under consideration by the responsible national authority at the end of the reference period. It thus refers to the “stock” of applications for which decisions are still pending. This indicator is meant to measure the workload of the national authorities.
At the end of September 2015, more than 808 000 applications for asylum protection in the EU Member States were still under consideration by the responsible national authority. Last year, at the end of September 2014, there were almost 435 000. With 366 000 pending applications at the end of September 2015 (or 45% of the EU total), Germany had by far the largest share in the EU, ahead of Hungary (107 500, or 13%), Sweden (85 700, or 11%) and Italy (50 500, or 6%).
