According to the latest Eurostat report, in May, 80,375 people applied for international protection, for the first time, in EU countries.
This figure represents an increase of 27% compared to the same month 2022 (63,455). As in previous months, Syrian citizens were the largest group (12,110), followed by Afghans (7,210), Venezuelans (7,015) and Colombians (6,745).
In May 2023, 3 065 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, mostly from Afghanistan (985) and Syria (870). The EU countries which received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in May 2023 were Germany (1 200), ahead of the Netherlands (410) and Austria (405).
The number of Ukrainian applicants has gradually decreased as of April 2022, reaching 945 in the month of May, mainly due to the right of this group to temporary protection. For their part, citizens of Russian nationality were in 14th position, with 1,435 applications.
By host countries, Germany (23,235), Spain (17,405), Italy (11,045) and France (10,850) received the highest number of first asylum applications, which represents more than three quarters (78%) of the total of the EU.
