In July 2024, 74,695 citizens from outside the European Union made asylum claims for the first time in EU countries, according to Eurostat data released on Monday (21/10).

The number is down 7.5% compared to July 2023 (80,735).

Citizens from Syria, Afghanistan, and Venezuela remain the largest groups of asylum seekers in the EU.

In particular, last July, 12,295 Syrians, 6,030 Afghans, and 5,170 Venezuelans applied for asylum in the EU for the first time.

In July, 2,985 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, with most of them coming from Syria (895), Afghanistan (470), and Egypt (345). The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (750), Bulgaria (455), Greece (420), the Netherlands (355) and Spain (325).

The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (750), Bulgaria (455), Greece (420), the Netherlands (355) and Spain (325).

74% of non-EU citizens seek protection in Germany, Italy, Spain and France. In particular, Germany (18,505 applications), Italy (13,235), Spain (11,925) and France (11,300) continued to receive the largest number of first-time asylum seekers.

Compared to the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2024), the highest rates of first-time applications were recorded in Greece (55.1%).