Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
In May 2023, 80,375 first-time asylum seekers (non-EU nationals) applied for international protection in an EU country. Compared to May 2022 (63,455), this represents an increase of 27%. There were also 5,325 later applicants, -16% compared to May 2022 (6,370).

This information comes from monthly asylum data published by the European Statistical Office in Brussels, Eurostat.
Most first-time asylum seekers were Syrians and Afghans. As in previous months, in May 2023, Syrians were the largest group of people seeking asylum (12,110 first-time applicants). They are followed by Afghans (7,210), ahead of Venezuelans (7,015) and Colombians (6,745).
In the aftermath of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, there was a significant increase in the number of Ukrainian asylum seekers for the first time (from 2,100 in February 2022 to 12,185 in March 2022), but the numbers decrease monthly, reaching 945 in May 2023. The reason is also that people People fleeing Ukraine benefit from temporary protection.
In May 2023, the number of first-time asylum seekers with Russian citizenship ranked 14th among all nationalities, with 1,435 applications.

Germany, Spain, Italy and France made up 78% of first-time asylum seekers
In May 2023, Germany (23,235), Spain (17,405), Italy (11,045) and France (10,850) received the largest number of first-time asylum seekers, accounting for more than three-quarters (78%) of first-time asylum seekers. All first-time EU applicants.
In May 2023, the total number of first-time asylum seekers in the European Union was 179 per million people.
Compared to the population of each EU country (as of January 1, 2023), the highest rate of first-time registered applicants in May 2023 was recorded in Cyprus (1,092 applicants per million people), ahead of Austria (448). In contrast, the lowest rate was observed in Hungary (0.2).

3,065 unaccompanied minors apply for asylum
In May 2023, 3,065 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the European Union, most of them from Afghanistan (985) and Syria (870).
The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in May 2023 were Germany (1,200), followed by the Netherlands (410) and Austria (405).