In the European Union plus Norway and Switzerland, asylum requests decreased for the second consecutive year in 2017, dropping 43 percent on 2016 figures. The number of Syrian refugees requesting asylum in 2017 was double that of the previous year.
The number of asylum seekers in the European Union plus Norway and Switzerland went down by 43 percent in 2017.
According to the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), a total of 706,913 requests were made. This was the second consecutive year that asylum requests decreased in the EU plus Norway and Switzerland, after a record-breaking year in 2015.
Despite the decrease in 2017, the number of requests was still higher than the number in 2014, showing that the level of asylum seekers in the EU is still at an "important" level.
Requests from Syrian refugees doubled
One in every three asylum requests was filed by a Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan or Nigerian citizen, according to EASO. The number of Syrian refugees who requested asylum in 2017 was double that of 2016, with 98,000 requests. The main countries of origin were Pakistan, Eritrea, Albania, Bangladesh, Guinea and Iran.
Only 40 percent of requests granted in 2017
In 2017, the EU plus Norway and Switzerland made decisions on 981,615 initial asylum requests, 13 percent less than in 2016. Of these, only 40 percent were granted asylum. At the end of 2017, there were 462,532 requests still awaiting an initial decision.