The number of asylum applications in European Union countries has decreased by 13 percent last year.The European Union's statistical office, Eurostat, confirmed in a statement Thursday that this is the first decline in the number of asylum applications in EU countries since 2020.The office revealed that 912,000 first-time asylum applications were received from non-EU citizens in the 27 member states, a decrease of more than one million applications in 2023.Syrians constituted the largest proportion of applicants, accounting for 16 percent of applications submitted, while the second largest groups came from Venezuela and Afghanistan, accounting for 8 percent each.Eurostat noted that approximately 148,000 first-time asylum applications were submitted by Syrians in 2024, a decrease of 19.2 percent compared to the previous year.The European Union's statistical office, explained that of the total applications for international protection in the EU countries, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France received more than three-quarters of them, with unaccompanied minors accounting for 3.9 percent of applicants.
