A leading United Nations official says the "hostile and toxic" asylum seeker debate in Australia is part of the reason for a drop in asylum claims.

The yearly report from the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) shows that while asylum seeker numbers soared 20 per cent worldwide last year to more than 440,000, the number arriving in Australia fell 9 per cent to 11,500.

The report says the drop in numbers is largely due to fewer asylum seekers arriving in Australia by boat.

But Richard Towle, the regional representative of the UNHCR, says many asylum seekers now have a "negative" view of Australia.

"Overall, people contemplating moving for whatever reason, saw Australia as a less hospitable place to come and claim international refugee protection," he said.

"There are many reasons why they would have reached that conclusion, not least the dangers of the voyage, the costs, and what are perceptions of a pretty negative and sometimes hostile public debate on those issues."

Mr Towle says the number of asylum seekers arriving in Australia is "not a significant issue" and that it is well-equipped to deal with the number of arrivals.

"We don't think that that level of number warrants the kind of public and sometimes toxic debate that occurred in Australia last year," he said.

'Delusional'

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But Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison disagrees and says Australia has been "batting above its average" in terms of asylum seekers.

"Last year, in 2010, the figures recorded at the peak, I think, demonstrated that. So, if the Government somehow thinks they've addressed this crisis then they really are delusional," he said.

He says Australia had the biggest number of boat arrivals on record over the summer.

"Over the summer, since the Government announced their community release mainstream policy and bridging visas, we had the biggest summer of boat arrivals on record - over 2,100 people turned up," he said.

"That was the biggest surge in arrivals over summer that we have ever seen."

'Constantly negative'

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen has welcomed the findings.

"They show that ours was the only region in the UNHCR report to report a decrease in asylum applications," he said.

He denies that Australia is not lifting its weight when helping with the world's refugee population.

"That would be a valid argument if we didn't go out and take people out of refugee camps around the world. Australia remains the largest resettlement country in the world per capita," he said.

"I think it's a good thing if less people are making a dangerous boat journey to Australia - I certainly think that's a good thing."

He says he is not surprised at the Opposition's response to the report.

"Here we have an example of a reduction in asylum claims to Australia, which you'd think the Opposition would welcome, and yet they find an opportunity to be negative about it," he said.

"Now yes of course there's been increases over a period of years, but you would think that they would actually say that a reduction is welcome instead of being consistently negative."

Perspective

The UNHCR report says the current figures for Australia are the first decrease in six years.

Around the industrialised world, the largest groups of asylum seekers are from Afghanistan but the report says the number of Afghans seeking refuge in Australia dropped 45 per cent last year.

The UNHCR counted 411,300 asylum seekers last year, a global annual increase of 20 per cent. The agency attributed that rise to turmoil in West Africa and in the Arab world.

UNHCR high commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres says it is important to put the figures in perspective.

"The number of asylum claims received across all industrialised countries is still smaller than the population of Dadaab, a single refugee camp in north-east Kenya," he said.

About 35,700 Afghans sought asylum in Western countries, including Australia, last year - a 34 per cent jump.

The countries receiving the largest number of claims were the United States, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden.