Increase of more than 150% compared to corresponding period in 2014, UK applications increase by 32%
The latest quarterly report on asylum by the European Union's Eurostat says that the number of first time asylum applicants in the EU increased by more than 150% in the third quarter of 2015 compared with the same quarter of 2014 and almost doubled compared with the second quarter of 2015.
A total of 413,800 people sought asylum in the EU Member States from July to September.
According to Eurostat, Syrians, Afghanis and Iraqis were the top 3 countries of origin, with 138,000, 56,700 and 44,400 applications respectively.
The rest of the top 10 countries of origin were Albania, Pakistan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Somalia and Russia.
Asylum applicants from Iraq recorded the largest increase in the EU in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same quarter of 2014 (up 11 times), followed by Albanians (nearly 8 times more), Afghanis (almost 6 times more), Pakistanis (4 times more) and Syrians (3 times more).
Eurostat says that the highest number of first time asylum applicants in the third quarter of 2015 was registered in Germany and Hungary (both with slightly over 108,000 applicants, or 26% each of total applicants in the EU Member States), followed by Sweden (42,500, or 10%), Italy (28,400, or 7%) and Austria (27,600, or 7%).
Eurostat figures show that the UK had 11,870 applications in the third quarter of 2015, an increase of 32% compared to last year. The number of asylum applications in the UK in the year ending September 2015 stood at 35,045.