The number of migrant children, including unaccompanied minors, registered as present in the European Union (EU) rose between 2020 and 2021, then went on to
rise significantly between 2021 and 2022.
According to Eurostat, the 27 EU Member States (EU-27) and Norway received over 518 000 first time asylum applications from children under 18 years of age and
79 000 asylum applications from applicants considered unaccompanied minors in 2020-2022. This included 13,620 unaccompanied minor applicants in 2020, 25 290
in 2021, with a large jump to 40 175 in 2022.Not all unaccompanied minors arriving in the EU apply for asylum or are beneficiaries of temporary protection. Data are not collected systematically across the EU on those children who do not apply for, or benefit from, either regime and it is difficult to give a total number of those involved. However, unaccompanied children registered by child protection services can help to fill in the gaps in many EU countries.
This publication summarises developments across 2021 and 2022.
