DAccording to a media report, the number of asylum applications in the European Union plus Norway and Switzerland – referred to as EU+ – broke through the million mark in 2023 for the first time since 2016. A total of 1.13 million asylum applications were submitted last year, as “Welt am Sonntag” reports, citing previously unpublished figures from the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA).

Accordingly, the increase in asylum applications in the EU+ is 17 percent compared to 2022 with 966,000 asylum applications. In Germany, the number of asylum applications in 2023 (329,120) increased by 51 percent compared to the previous year (217,774), significantly more than the European average. At the bottom when it comes to the number of asylum applications in 2023 are Lithuania with 415 asylum applications and Hungary with 31 asylum applications in the entire year 2023.

Germany remains the number 1 destination country for asylum applications. After Germany, Spain (161,732), France (160,769) and Italy (135,294) are the countries with the highest number of asylum applicants, as “Welt am Sonntag” writes. Accordingly, most asylum applications in Germany came from Syrians (29 percent), followed by people from Turkey (18 percent) and Afghanistan (15 percent).

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) also recently took stock of the previous year. Accordingly, the number of asylum applications – including follow-up applications – rose from 244,132 in 2022 to 351,915 in 2023. This is the fourth highest value in the history of the Federal Republic. More applications were only submitted in 1992, 2015 and 2016.