UNHCR release shows 23 per cent increase in new asylum applications registered in the EU in first half of 2014

01 Oct 2014

The report shows that during the first half of 2014, an estimated 330,700 new asylum applications were registered in the 44 countries* covered by Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, an increase of 64,300 (24 per cent) for the same period of 2013 (266,300).

Key findings:

  • The 28 Member States of the European Union registered 216,300 asylum claims during the first half of 2014, an increase of 40,100 (23 per cent) compared to the corresponding period of 2013 (176,200).
  • The top five recipients in the first half of the year of new asylum claims among the 44 industrialised countries were:-
    • Germany (65,700)
    • United States (52,800)
    • France (29,000)
    • Sweden (28,500)
    • Turkey (27,700)
  • The top 5 source country of asylum seekers in the 44 industrialized countries between January and June 2014 were:-
    • Syrian Arab Republic (48,400)
    • Iraq (21,300)
    • Afghanistan (19,300)
    • Eritrea (18,900)
    • Serbia (and Kosovo: s/res/1244 (1999)) (12,300)
  • In the same period Ireland recorded 591 new asylum applications, an increase of 122 on January to end June 2013 (469 applications).

For more information:

See UNHCR news story

Down report: Asylum Trends, First half 2014 Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 

More news


* The 44 countries are: the 28 Member States of the European Union, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland,Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia (and Kosovo: S/RES/1244(1999)), Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey, as well as Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and the United States of America.