Since 2020, EU+ countries (EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland) have been receiving increased numbers of asylum applications. In 2023, 1.1 million applications were lodged in the EU+, marking an 18% increase from the previous year, and the most for seven years. During the first half of 2024, some 513,000 applications were lodged in the EU+ which is more or less stable compared to the first half of 2023, when the highest January – June level was recorded since the refugee crisis. Usually, more applications are lodged in the second half of the year, and so it is estimated that the EU+ will again receive well over a million applications for asylum by the end of 2024.

Further to international protection, in June 2024 around 4.5 million persons displaced from the Russian invasion of Ukraine were benefiting from temporary protection, significantly adding to the overall number of individuals in the EU+ with protection needs. For more details on forced displacement from Ukraine, read the latest Voices in Europe, a joint report which highlights prevailing themes based on the personal testimonies of over 1,500 respondents.  

These concurrent trends – the surge in asylum applications and the number of displaced persons from Ukraine – are exerting immense strain on the EU+ asylum and reception systems. National authorities are being pushed to their limits as they strive to accommodate and safeguard those in need.  

During the first half of 2024, Syrians, consistently at the forefront of asylum applications in the EU+, lodged 71,000 applications. This represents 14% of all applications lodged, and a slight increase of 7% compared to the same period in 2023. For more information, read the latest EUAA reports on Syria, its Security situation and Country Guidance which focusses on the key elements of qualification for international protection.  

Afghans continued to be the second largest nationality group despite lodging fewer applications compared with the first halves of 2022 and 2023. Read an EUAA Country Focus report on the general security and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, plus Country Guidance which focusses on the key elements of qualification for international protection.  

In the autumn of 2023, Turkish nationals suddenly sought international protection in the EU+ in unprecedented numbers such that for a short time they ranked second among all citizenships applying for asylum. However, this Germany-centred surge was short-lived with far fewer Turks seeking protection in subsequent months. In the first half of 2024, Turks lodged 28,000 applications, still the second highest level for this time of year but ranked fifth among all citizenships.

Many of these citizenships were also detected illegally crossing the EU external border, but in July Frontex announced that in the first half of 2024, detections of illegal border-crossing fell by a third compared to 2023 (click here for Data Tables). It is usually the case that applications for asylum far exceed detections at the border, but many similarities remain. For example, Syrians lodged the most applications for asylum and were also among the most detected citizenships at the external border, especially along the Central and Eastern mediterranean routes as well as the Western Balkans and at the Eastern land border. Similarly, Afghans, despite lodging slightly fewer applications for asylum were still among the most detected nationalities on the Western Balkan route, the Eastern Mediterranean route and the Eastern Land border.  

During the first half of 2024 there has been a surge of boat arrivals in the Canary Islands leading to increased levels of deaths and shipwrecks. For this period, Frontex reported the most detections of illegal border-crossings on the Western African route since records began, up by 174% compared to the same period in 2023. According to these data, Malian and Senegalese nationals were the most commonly detected, leading to a commensurate increase in the number of asylum applications: during the first half of 2024, Malians lodged a non-trivial 9,600 applications for asylum in the EU+ which is a clear record and up three-fold compared to the same period in 2023, while Senegalese lodged 7,500 applications also up three-fold over the same period. Naturally the increased asylum caseload took place in Spain, but both these nationalities continued to also lodge applications in Italy and France.

Everyone has the right to seek asylum irrespective of how they arrived in the receiving country. Indeed, many asylum seekers are not irregular migrants at all, instead arriving legally as regular travellers even on flights from their home countries. In the first half of 2024, around a quarter of all asylum applications were lodged by citizenships that benefit from visa-free travel agreements to the Schengen area, such as the one put in place for British nationals post Brexit. Most notable were Venezuelans and Colombians, and to a lesser extent, Peruvians who continued to lodge many applications for asylum. The vast majority of these Latin American applications were lodged in Spain, accounting for 90% of Venezuelan and 80% of Colombian applications in the first half of 2024, plus nearly all were first-time applications, which often means that the applicants are newly arrived in the EU+. Unlike Venezuelans and Colombians, more Peruvians are now applying in Italy (53%) than in Spain (43%, see chart), to such an extent that in during the first half of 2024 Peruvians were in fact the number two citizenship lodging applications in Italy. In response to challenges linked to visa-free travel, particularly the high numbers of unfounded asylum applications, the Commission adopted a proposal in October 2023 to strengthen the visa suspension mechanism.

Repeated applications, those lodged after a final decision has been taken on a previous application, accounted for 9% of all applications during the first half of 2024. This level continues to be reasonably stable, but there is much variation among citizenships. Some groups of applicants such as visa-free Latin Americans (Venezuelans, Colombians and Peruvians) have low levels of repeated applications (generally 1-2%), which often means that the applicants are newly arrived in the receiving country. At the other end of the scale, other citizenships such as Nigerians exhibit rather high levels of repeated applications (23% in the first half of 2024) and so these applicants must have been present in the receiving country already for some time. In fact, this percentage is even higher in individual receiving countries such as Italy, where repeated Nigerian applications were more common than first-time applications. Read the latest Country Focus for an overview of the situation in Nigeria focusing on security issues and selected profiles relevant for international protection.

Since March 2022, persons displaced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have been eligible for temporary protection in the EU+. By the end of June 2024, approximately 4.5 million people were benefiting from this protection, which was recently extended to March 2026. The majority have settled in Germany (1.3 million) and Poland (1 million), with notably few in France (62,000). Despite their eligibility for temporary protection, throughout the first half of 2024 more Ukrainians have been applying for international protection in the EU+, such that by the end of June some 12,000 applications had been lodged, which is not far away from the total for all of 2023 (14,000). Surprisingly, this trend has mostly been taking place in France, where during the first half of 2024 half of all Ukrainian applications were lodged, followed by Poland with a fifth of all Ukrainian applications (see chart). Some Ukrainians might be lodging asylum applications following expired residents permits. Despite the notable increase in Ukrainian asylum applications, overall temporary protection remains a more attractive option. 

To eliminate month-to-month fluctuations, this section offers a comprehensive overview of the asylum application trends of the top 20 nationalities in the first half of 2024 (yellow) in comparison to the first half of 2023 (blue). Syrians and Afghans lodged the most applications for asylum during both these time periods. However, Syrian applications increased slightly (+7%), whereas Afghans applications declined by 18%. 

Most of these main citizenships exhibited an upward change in their application numbers, which is to some extent a statistical artefact because nationalities with declining trends are more likely to fall out of the top 20, while those with increasing trends tend to rise into the ranking. Nevertheless, it is notable that Malians and Senegalese both lodged three times as many applications during the first half of 2024, and Ukrainians lodged applications which increased by 74%.  

Decreased applications were almost as common, at least among these top citizenships. For instance, Georgian applications halved compared to the first half of 2023 and Pakistanis lodged applications that fell by nearly a third, and Ivorians by a quarter.   

In the first half of 2024, Germany remained the top destination for asylum seekers in the EU+, receiving 124,000 applications or 24% of the total. Spain followed with 88,000 applications (17% of the total), while Italy was at a near-record high of 85,000 applications (17%). Despite Germany's historical lead receiving the most asylum applications, it has experienced a decline in recent months, whereas the opposite has been occurring in Italy where record numbers of applications were lodged in March 2024.  

Other differences between the main receiving countries include the nature of the caseloads. For example, there is a remarkable lack of overlap between the citizenships who tend to apply in these three main receiving countries: in Germany more than half of all applications were lodged by Syrians, Afghans and Turks; in Spain nearly two thirds were lodged by Venezuelans and Colombians; while in Italy nearly 40% of all applications were lodged by Bangladeshis, Peruvians and Egyptians. Click here for data tables.  

Adding to localised patterns, certain citizenships tend to lodge most of their applications in a single EU+ country. In the first half of 2024, these included Venezuelans who lodged 90% of the applications and Colombians who lodged 80% of their applications in Spain; and Bangladeshis and Tunisians who lodged most of their applications in Italy.

Uniquely among EU+ countries, Hungary received just 13 applications for asylum in the first half of 2024. Controversially, third-country nationals seeking protection in Hungary can only apply after submitting a declaration of intent at a Hungarian embassy in a non-EU country. In December 2020, the European Court of Justice held that Hungary failed to comply with the rules of EU law on procedures for granting international protection and returning illegally staying third-country nationals. In June 2024, the court re-confirmed that the Hungarian practice continues to infringe on EU law. 

Evaluating which EU+ countries tend to receive the most applications for asylum is important but to some extent a simple like-for-like comparison is not appropriate because the EU+ countries vary wildly in terms of the size and capacity of their asylum and reception systems. As a rough measure of their overall capacity and a more nuanced estimation of the pressure exerted on national authorities, this analysis takes into account the number of asylum applications lodged per million inhabitants (Eurostat population data). 

During the first half 2024, Cyprus, with a small population size of around 921,000, received 4,900 asylum applications. This amounts to a rate of 5,300 applications per million population, or 1 application for every 190 inhabitants. In contrast, Germany reported many more applications for asylum (circa 124,000); however, given its larger population of 84 million, the German rate is lower at 1,500 applications per million inhabitants, or 1 application per 680 inhabitants. Italy received far fewer applications than Germany (85,000), but because of its smaller population size, Italy was in fact under similar pressure as Germany with a per capita rate of 1,400 applications per million population or 1 application per 690 inhabitants.  

Taking the whole EU+ into consideration: its population of 463 million and 513,000 asylum applications received during the first half of 2024, converts to 1,100 applications per million population or about 1 application for every 900 persons.

Uniquely among EU+ countries, Hungary received just 13 applications for asylum during the first half of 2024 despite a population size of 9.6 million persons (10 times that of Cyprus), probably because since 2020, applicants are required to submit a declaration of intent at a Hungarian embassy in a non-EU country before they can enter the country and apply for international protection. Read more in the EUAA Asylum Report 2021.