Europe’s economic powerhouse is still a hotspot for refugees.
Germany alone granted 60% of all positive asylum decisions from in the European Union (EU) in 2017, according to recent data (pdf) by Eurostat. France granted the second highest number of asylum protections, followed by Italy, Austria and Sweden.
Syrian refugees were the largest beneficiaries of humanitarian protection in the EU in 2017, accounting for 33% of positive asylum decisions. Refugees from Afghanistan (19%) and Iraq (12%) rounded up the top three.
The vast majority of Syrian refugees (70%) gained asylum in Germany in 2017. Overall, the number of Syrian refugees gaining asylum in the EU has dropped since 2016, when they accounted for 57% of all positive decisions.
The likelihood of receiving a positive decision vary widely between migrants. Asylum seekers hailing from Syria, Eritrea, and Somalia were the most likely to get their claim accepted, while asylum seekers from Armenia, Kosovo, and Albania were the least likely to gain asylum.
Overall, 538,000 asylum seekers were granted protection within the bloc last year—down by almost 25% from 2016. The number of people applying for asylum has also dramatically reduced. Data released last March show that the number of asylum applications in Europe dropped by nearly half last year. Applications have now returned to levels more commonly seen before the civil war in Syria, which sparked Europe’s migration crisis in 2015.