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2.4. Asylum decisions: Second and higher instance

2.4.1 Decisions at second and higher instances: EU+ overview

In 2018, EU+ countries issued 314 915 decisions at second or higher instance, a 9 % increase compared to 2017 (Fig. 19). Thus, a trend of progressively more final decisions issued each year, which has been observed as of 2014, persisted. Read more... 


2.4.2. Decisions at second and higher instances per citizenship of origin

A higher volume of final decisions was issued to applicants from most countries of origin. A third of all final decisions were issued to applicants from Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq. Afghan nationals received more final decisions than in 2017 (+ 40 %) outnumbering Syrians (- 9 %), who in contrast received somewhat fewer. Read more... 


2.4.3 Decisions at second and higher instances per EU+ country

With regard to the situation in EU+ countries, three quarters of all final decisions in 2018 were issued by just three EU+ countries: Germany, France or Italy (Fig. 21). Notably, Germany alone accounted for slightly less than half of all decisions in the EU+, but issued somewhat fewer decisions than in 2017 (- 7 %). While numbers were broadly stable in France (- 3 %), they increased in Italy: compared to 2017, the output of second-instance bodies more than tripled. Read more... 


2.4.4 Recognition rate at second and higher instances by country of origin

The fact that a considerable proportion of final decisions were positive was reflected in the recognition rates for applicants from several countries of origin, at both higher and lower recognition rates. In 2018, seven out of the ten citizenships with most final decisions received a higher proportion of positive decisions at final rather than in first instance, a noticeable development. Read more...