Protection status to 333,400 asylum seekers in the EU

The 28 Member States of the European Union (EU) granted protection status to nearly 333, 400 asylum seekers in 2018, down by almost 40% from 2017 (533 000).

In addition to these, the EU Member States received over 24 800 resettled refugees. The largest group of beneficiaries of protection status in the EU in 2018 remained citizens of Syria (96 100 persons, or 29% of the total number of persons granted protection status in the EU Member States), followed by citizens of Afghanistan (53 500 or 16%) and those of Iraq (24 600 or 7%), as compared with 2017 when 172 900 or 32% of asylum seekers granted protection were Syrians, 99 800 or 19% were Afghanis and 63 800 or 12% were Iraqis. Syrians were the largest group granted protection status in sixteen Member States in 2018. Of the 96 100 Syrians granted protection status in the EU, almost 70% were recorded in Germany (67 000). These data on the results of asylum decisions in the EU are released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In Cyprus, the three main citizenships granted protection status in 2018 were Syrian 1 000 individuals or 82%, Somalian 35, or 3% and Iraqi 35 or 3%. In Greece Syrian 6 015 individuals, or 38%, the Iraqi 3 545 or 22% and the citizens of Afghanistan 2 635 or 17%.

In 2018, the highest number of persons granted protection status was registered in Germany (139 600), ahead of Italy (47 900) and France (41 400). Out of all the persons who were granted protection status in 2018 in the EU, 163 800 persons were granted refugee status (49% of all positive decisions), 100 300 were given subsidiary protection (30%) and 69 300 authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons (21%). It should be noted that, while both refugee and subsidiary protection status are defined by EU law, humanitarian status is granted on the basis of national legislation.

In Cyprus there were 1 225  positive decisions on asylum applications, or 1 415 per million of local population, of which 200 on refugee status and 1 025 on subsidiary protection.

In Greece there were 15 805 positive decisions on asylum applications, or 1 470 per million of local population, of which 12 810 on refugee status, 2 670 on subsidiary protection and 325 on humanitarian reasons. There were no ressetlements.

In 2018, almost 582 000 first instance decisions on asylum applications were made in the EU Member States and a further 309 000 final decisions following an appeal. Decisions made at the first instance resulted in 217 400 persons being granted protection status, while a further 116 000 received protection status on appeal.

The recognition rate, i.e. the share of positive decisions among the total number of decisions, was 37% for first instance decisions in the EU. For final decisions on appeal, the recognition rate was 38%. The outcomes of decisions on asylum applications, and therefore the recognition rate, vary between countries of citizenship of asylum applicants. Among the twenty main citizenships of asylum applicants on which decisions were taken at first instance in 2018, recognition rates in the EU ranged from around 5% for citizens of Georgia to 88% for Syrians and 83% for Eritreans.

The recognition rate was 49% in Cyprus and 47% in Greece, on first instance, while positive decisions on appeal stood 3% and 8% respectively.