Brussels – Eurostat’s Bulletin on asylum seekers in the EU for August 2024 confirms data on reductions in irregular entries on European soil in recent months: member countries received 69,270 asylum applications, a 24.8 percent drop from 92,055 applications in the same month of 2023. It is the lowest monthly figure since April 2022.
In addition to the nearly 70,000 first-time applicants, 6,285 applied for asylum, at least for the second time. Also in August, Syrians remained the largest nationality of asylum seekers (13,340 first-time applicants), followed by Afghans (5,605) and Venezuelans (4,690).
Germany, Spain, France, and Italy continue to receive about 70 percent of all asylum requests in the EU. However, compared to the previous month, there was a significant decrease in those that Rome received: in July, there were 13,235, and in August, there were 9,620. Germany received 18,425, Spain 10,580, and France 10,035.
In proportion to the population of each member country, however, the highest rates of asylum seekers were in Greece – 59.9 per hundred thousand population – and Ireland – 31.5 per hundred thousand population. On average, the total rate of first-time asylum seekers in the EU in August 2024 was 15.4 per hundred thousand people.
