By the end of June, EU+ countries received 513 000 applications for international protection. While the figure was stable compared to the first six months of 2023, it masks some important changes at the national level. Germany received one fifth fewer applications while Italy received an increase by over a third. In Spain, overall applications have been stable but at a high level.

Analysis released by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) reveals that between January and June 2024, some 513 000 asylum applications were received in the EU+.1  With more applications typically expected in the latter six months, the Agency estimates that EU+ countries could receive around a million applications by the end of the year.

In the first half of 2024, applications from Syrians (71 000) increased by 7 % compared to the same period in 2023. Afghans (45 000), while remaining the second largest nationality group, lodged a fifth fewer applications (- 18 %). After a surge of boat arrivals in the Canary Islands in recent months, by the end of June, Malians (9 600) and Senegalese (7 500) both lodged three times as many applications compared to the same period in 2023.

Changing trends in key receiving EU+ countries

While Germany (124 000) received almost a quarter of all applications in the EU+ in the first half of the year, this represents a one fifth decrease compared to the same period in 2023. Though Spain (88 000) received the 2nd highest number of applications, this was stable year-over-year. On the other hand, applications in Italy (85 000) increased by over a third. Cyprus (4 900) continued to receive the most applications per capita.

Latin American nationalities, many of which benefit from visa-free access to the EU+, continue to feature heavily in the asylum landscape. Venezuelans (37 000) and Colombians (29 000), and to a lesser extent, Peruvians (14 000) continue to lodge significant numbers of applications in the EU+. In the first half of 2024, the vast majority of Venezuelans (90 %) and Colombians (80 %) applied in Spain. However most Peruvians (53 %) applied in Italy, which was a notable shift from 2023 when Spain was the main destination for Peruvian asylum seekers.

Asylum applications do not paint a full picture of protection needs in the EU+. At the end of June 2024, there were 4.5 million persons displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine benefitting from temporary protection. In parallel, there has been a small increase in asylum applications by Ukrainians (12 000), over half of which were lodged in France and a fifth in Poland. Taken together, these trends pose significant challenges to EU+ asylum and reception authorities. With the number of cases awaiting decisions at first instance continuing to be stable (925 000), the EUAA was offering operational assistance to 11 Member States.

Decisions on international protection

In the first half of 2024, the recognition rate at first instance stood at around 46 % in the EU+. The recognition rate, which is the proportion of decisions granting either refugee status or subsidiary protection is one indicator, among several, of how EU+ authorities evaluate the protection needs of different citizenships, and the level of convergence in decision making at the European level.

In the case of Syrians, the recognition rate has remained high at 92 % at the EU+ level, and national rates are broadly consistent across EU+ countries. However, some important differences in protection decisions persist, with fewer than 1 in 3 positive decisions (29 %) granting refugee status to Syrian nationals. Germany has taken the majority of decisions relating to Syrian applicants, and the country  granted refugee status in 1 out of 9 cases. For Afghans, the recognition rate stood at around 65 % at EU+ level, and national rates displayed much more variation among EU+ countries. Recognition rates for other key nationalities applying for international protection in the EU+ have undergone changes. These include those for Turkish applicants who, for four years, have steadily been granted protection less often, down to 18 % from 54 % in 2019.