European asylum applications for 2000

Provisional data provided by governments to UNHCR indicate that some 452,000 asylum applications were submitted in 25 European countries in the year 2000, 4 percent less than in 1999, when 471,000 applications were recorded. In the 15 countries of the European Union, the number of applications rose slightly (+0.5 percent), from 387,000 in 1999 to almost 390,000 in 2000.

The United Kingdom received the largest number of asylum applications - 97,900 or 22 percent of the total number of applications lodged in Europe, followed by Germany (78,800 or 17 percent) and the Netherlands (43,900 or 10 percent).

When compared to the size of the total national population, Slovenia received the largest number of asylum-seekers in Europe during 2000 (4.7 applications per 1,000 inhabitants), followed by Belgium (4.2) and Ireland (2.9).

The main three nationalities of asylum-seekers in Europe remained unchanged compared to 1999: citizens from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia submitted the largest number of applications in Europe (42,300), followed by nationals from Iraq (34,700) and from Afghanistan (28,800). The number of Iranian applications more than doubled, from 12,100 in 1999 to 27,100 in 2000.

These European statistics were compiled by UNHCR's Registration and Statistics Unit.