Eurostat released its figures on the number of first-time asylum applications made across the European Union in 2023 and reveals that Greece was tied for second place with Austria in terms of number of applications received.
First-time asylum applications in the EU increased 20% compared to 2022, reaching 1,048,900. Applications are from non-EU citizens and are the process in which third country nationals apply for international protection in EU countries.
Eurostat says that main country of citizenship of asylum seekers in the EU was Syria, comprising 17% of the total, or 183,000 first-time applications. This was closely followed by citizens from Afghanistan at 10% and from Türkiye at 9%.
The ranking in terms of number of applications received in each EU member state is derived by comparing the population of each EU country against the number of applications, according to Eurostat.
This places Cyprus as the top recipient of applications, per percentage of their population, followed by Greece and Austria.
