Countries in the European Union, plus Switzerland and Norway (EU+) received 1.14 million applications for asylum last year – reaching a seven-year high, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) announced on Wednesday (February 28). The uptick marks an 18% increase compared with 2022.

The EUAA noted an increase in Palestinian applications towards the end of 2023. Nearly 11,600 Palestinians applied for asylum in the EU+ last year – two thirds higher than in 2022.

Palestinian applications began to rise in July 2023 and dipped again in December 2023, following slightly more significant increases in October and November of last year, according to EUAA Communications Officer Andrew McKinlay.

"Given that asylum applications must be lodged in the EU, as well as the physical realities of Gaza, we would be careful in directly tying a (so far) temporary increase in applications to the events of 7 October and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas," McKinlay told InfoMigrants ahead of the release of the latest asylum report.

Which European countries received the most applications?

1. Germany
2. France
3. Spain
4. Italy

On average, the countries of the EU+ received around one asylum application for every 400 inhabitants in 2023, according to figures from the EUAA.

Germany continued to receive the highest number of asylum applications in the EU+ by far, with 334,000 – nearly a third of the total. Germany received more applications than France (167,000) and Spain (162,000) combined. Italy, meanwhile, received 136,000. Collectively, these four countries received over two thirds of all applications in 2023.

Applications for asylum per capita, by receiving country

1. Cyprus
2. Austria
3. Greece
4. Germany

While evaluating which EU+ countries receive the most asylum applications is important, it is not the best measure of pressure on national administrations, the EUAA noted in its report. "Asylum and reception systems vary widely in terms of their capacity," and examining asylum applications per capita paints a better picture of the kinds of pressure exerted on national authorities.

The island nation of Cyprus, for instance, received 12,000 asylum applications, meaning one application per 78 inhabitants and thereby the most applicants in the EU+ relative to its population size.

In contrast, Germany received 4,000 applications per million inhabitants (1 application per 252 inhabitants).

Belgium and Estonia, while receiving very different numbers of applications per se (35,000 and 4,000, respectively), tended to be under similar pressure per capita (each country received around 3,000 applications per million population).

What are the top five nationalities of asylum applicants?

1. Syrians, the largest applicant group, submitted 181,000 asylum applications in 2023 – an increase of 38% compared with 2022 (though just under half of applications filed in 2015).
2. Afghans lodged 114,000 applications – significantly lower than the previous year (11% decrease).
3. Turkish nationals made 101,000 applications – 82% more compared to the year before.
4. Venezuelans lodged 68,000 applications (and have visa-free access to the European Schengen Area.
5. Colombians filed 63,000 applications (and also have visa-free access to the European Schengen Area).

When asked why 2023 saw a significant rise in applications from Syrians in comparison to 2022, McKinlay explained that Syria "continues to be the scene of several internal armed conflicts."

"In areas under government control, targeted attacks and human rights violations have continued to take place against specific risk profiles including perceived political opponents. These different factors may drive international protection needs," he told InfoMigrants.

Some citizenships in 2023 filed most of their applications in a single EU+ country. Venezuelans and Colombians lodged over 80 % of their applications in Spain. Egyptians lodged around 70 % of their applications in Italy. Afghans, Syrians, and Turkish nationals lodged most of their applications in Germany. The majority of Moroccans, meanwhile, filed for asylum in Austria, and Guineans and Ivorians (francophone) applied mostly in France.

Strains on European asylum reception centers and slow processing

The EUAA noted in its report that asylum cases pending at first instance increased by 39% in 2023.

"This is just a natural consequence of higher application numbers lodged in EU+ countries and limited human resources within national protection authorities," McKinlay told InfoMigrants.

In addition, EU+ countries are also working to give temporary protection to more than 4.4 million Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. Ukrainians are exempted from the standard asylum seeker process that Afghans, Syrians and others must go through.

"These parallel strands continued to pose significant challenges for EU+ asylum and reception authorities," the EUAA stated.

Just over a quarter of Syrians granted refugee status

In 2023, the recognition rate – the percentage of asylum applications that receive decisions granting refugee status and subsidiary protection – was around 43% (the highest level since 2016).

For Syrians (who have more than a 80% recognition rate), only 26% were granted refugee status.

"It is up to national authorities to determine the outcome of any application and the content of the protection decision. As such the EUAA cannot infer particular reasons for these trends," McKinlay said.

He added: "While it is true that only around a quarter of Syrian applicants receive refugee status, and this has been declining, it is also true that the majority of Syrian applicants receive subsidiary protection. The overall recognition rate for Syrians remains very high at well over 80%."

But for Afghans (61% recognition rate), only about half of the decisions granted refugee status, and for Turkish nationals, since 2019 their recognition rate has plummeted to 25%.

The EUAA found that though recognition rates for most of the main citizenships of asylum applicants differ significantly from each other, they typically remain relatively stable over time.

For instance, in 2023, Bangladeshis continued to have a recognition rate of around 5% which has remained steady for many years, with Pakistanis at round 11% and Eritreans at 83%.