BRUSSELS - The number of first-time asylum applications in the EU in the third quarter of 2015 were 410,000, doubling on the previous trimester, according to European statistics institute Eurostat. The highest number of applications were registered in Germany and Hungary(108,000 each, 26%), followed by Sweden (42,500; 10%), Italy (28,400; 7%) and Austria (27,600; 7%). In Italy, the number of applicants climbed 91% from the previous quarter.



In Italy, most first-time applicants in the third trimester of 2015 came from Nigeria (7,575; 27%), followed by Pakistan (2,990; 11%) and Bangladesh (2,830; 10%). Out of the first 410,000 asylum applications in the EU, one in three (137,900; 33%) was presented by a Syrian national.



About two-thirds were recorded in two member States: in Hungary (53,100) and in Germany (35,800). Afghanistan remains the second main country of origin in the EU with 56,700 first asylum applicants (14%): about half of them presented an application in Hungary. The third country of provenance is Iraq with 44,400 first-time applicants (11%): over one-fourth of them presented their request in Finland (11,600).



The number of first-time asylum applicants every million of inhabitants in Italy is 467. The highest ratio in the EU is in Hungary with 10,974, followed by Sweden (4,362), Austria (3,215), Finland (2,765) and Germany (1,334). On the opposite end of the spectrum are Slovakia (three applicants for one million inhabitants), Croatia (8), Romania (14), Portugal(21) and the Czech Republic (25).

