In 2022, member states of the European Union received in total 632,430 applications for asylum, of which a majority were rejected. Asylum seekers are people who have left their home countries due to a fear of persecution or violations of their human rights, often for political reasons. An asylum seeker becomes a refugee upon being granted asylum, with a number of rights such as being allowed to stay in the country of asylum for an extended period of time then being granted.
In spite of the large numbers of refugees from fleeing from Ukraine into the European Union due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, these refugees are mostly not recorded in the data on asylum seekers in Europe, as most EU countries opted to grant refugee status to all Ukranian nationals fleeing the country immediately upon entry, therefore bypassing the need to make an asylum case.
As of 2022, the country which received the greatest number of asylum applications (and which also granted the greatest number of applications) was Germany, which received almost 200,000 applications. France, the country which received the second highest number of asylum applications, granted far fewer people refugee status, denying almost three times as many applications as they granted. A small number of countries in the EU take on the vast majority of asylum seekers, with these countries - Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Belgium, and the Netherlands - exclusively coming from the older members of the EU, who joined before the 2004 enlargements.
Number of asylum-seekers granted applying for asylum, being accepted for asylum, and being rejected for asylum in selected European countries in 2022
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Eurostat. (June 8, 2023). Number of asylum-seekers granted applying for asylum, being accepted for asylum, and being rejected for asylum in selected European countries in 2022 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 26, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/293350/asylum-grants-in-europe/
Eurostat. "Number of asylum-seekers granted applying for asylum, being accepted for asylum, and being rejected for asylum in selected European countries in 2022." Chart. June 8, 2023. Statista. Accessed October 26, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/293350/asylum-grants-in-europe/
Eurostat. (2023). Number of asylum-seekers granted applying for asylum, being accepted for asylum, and being rejected for asylum in selected European countries in 2022. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: October 26, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/293350/asylum-grants-in-europe/
Eurostat. "Number of Asylum-seekers Granted Applying for Asylum, Being Accepted for Asylum, and Being Rejected for Asylum in Selected European Countries in 2022." Statista, Statista Inc., 8 Jun 2023, https://www.statista.com/statistics/293350/asylum-grants-in-europe/
Eurostat, Number of asylum-seekers granted applying for asylum, being accepted for asylum, and being rejected for asylum in selected European countries in 2022 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/293350/asylum-grants-in-europe/ (last visited October 26, 2024)
Number of asylum-seekers granted applying for asylum, being accepted for asylum, and being rejected for asylum in selected European countries in 2022 [Graph], Eurostat, June 8, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/293350/asylum-grants-in-europe/