The number of people claiming asylum in Germany has fallen for the third year in a row, the country’s interior ministry has announced.

There were 111,094 first-time asylum applications made in 2019, German officials said on Wednesday, 18,534 fewer than 2018 – a fall of 14.3 per cent.

Fewer refugees have been arriving at Germany’s borders since the height of the migrant crisis in 2015, when 890,000 asylum claims were lodged.

The most common nationality among last year’s asylum-seekers was Syrian, with 26,453 people fleeing that country to find refuge in Germany, just under a quarter of the total number of claims.

Other common countries of origin included Iraq (10,0894 people), Turkey (10,275), Iran (7,778) and Afghanistan (7,124).

The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Show all 20 1 /20 The depth of the refugee crisis across the world The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Mexico A mother washes her baby as she waits for her fast-track humanitarian visa at the Mexico-Guatemala border in Ciudad Hidalgo. Unicef/Bindra The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Uganda Refugee children and youngsters from host communities play at a park in Palabek Refugee settlement, during the mid-morning break. This facility is supported by Unicef with EU financial assistance – it also provides psychosocial support to refugee children as well as a place to play, learn, interact, sing and dance after all the traumatic experiences they may have gone through. Unicef/Nabatanzi The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Jordan Ali, two, rests on his father’s chest. His family are Syrian refugees and came to Jordan six years ago. Ali has just received his winter clothing kit from Unicef and its partner Mateen. Unicef/Herwig The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Bangladesh Children enjoy a ride on a homemade ferris wheel during Eid al-Ftr in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. They are celebrating the holiday in Balukhali, a Rohingya refugee camp sheltering over 800,000 people. The camp is one of the largest in the world, and is bracing for the onset of the monsoon rains. Unicef/Modola The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Colombia Yulis Rivas, three, draws a picture of her parents in a “Friendly Space” in Cucuta, where Unicef provides learning activities for migrant children and parents from Venezuela. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Greece A young girl holds her doll in front of her tent at the refugee camp in Moria, on the Greek island of Lesbos. This is an overspill area of the camp, known as “the jungle” or “the olive grove”. In 2018, approximately 12,000 refugee and migrant children arrived in Greece by sea. Unicef/Haviv VII Ph The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Uganda Pupils play at Bidibidi refugee settlement in the Yumbe district of Uganda. Their school is supported by Unicef. Unicef/Bongyereirwe The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Colombia Hundreds of pupils cross the Venezuela-Colombia border at 5am to meet a bus that will take them to school in the Colombian city of Cucuta. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Jordan Ayman, 11 days old, receives his vaccinations in one of the Unicef-supported health clinics in Azraq refugee camp in Jordan. Unicef/Herwig The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Ethiopia Sabirin Nur, 18, is a Somali student volleyball captain at Unicef-supported Melkadida primary school, helping to run sessions for other pupils. Sabirin says: “As a female, many of us face challenges with our parents, like forced marriage or relatives trying to get us married. They want us to go home and be wives.” Unicef/Ayene The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Uganda Pupils sing and play at Bidibidi refugee settlement in Uganda, where migrants have fled from South Sudan. The centre is funded by UK aid and Plan International provides positive parenting services, early learning and recovery for children from war-related stress disorders. Unicef/Bongyereirwe The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Syria Khalid, 10, receives a measles vaccination in Tabqa city in Raqqa governorate. Khalid was uprooted due to escalating violence near his home, and returned a year ago. Unicef/Souleiman The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Lebanon Syrian refugee children in an informal settlement near Terbol in the Bekaa Valley. Unicef/Modola The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Daily life at the refugee camp in Moria. Unicef/Haviv VII Ph The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Colombia A baby has checkup in a Colombian medical centre that receives support from Unicef. Every day, about 40 migrant children are vaccinated in this centre. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Rumichaca, border of Ecuador with Colombia Katty Baez helps her one-year-old Alfredo insert the straw into a juice box that was given to them by a stranger. Katty is traveling to Peru with her two children to meet her husband, who has been there for eight months, and does not know that the family is on the way. Katty wants to surprise him, because he has been working hard on a fishing boat and the children miss him. In this area, Unicef Ecuador is supporting the government to ensure access to safe drinking water, sanitation, education and health services. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Ethiopia Pal Biel Jany, 15, wants to be the future president of South Sudan. He goes to school in Makod primary and secondary school in Tierkidi refugee camp in the Gambella region. Unicef/Mersha The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Lebanon Syrian refugee children play in Housh al Refka informal settlement in Bekaa Valley. Unicef/Choufany The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Rumichaca, border of Ecuador with Colombia Thiago Patania, 18 months old, takes a nap in the Unicef tent next to the Ecuadorian customs office in Rumichaca, while his mother waits in line to complete the immigration procedures for her passport to be stamped. Unicef has set up temporary child-friendly spaces and rest tents, as well as supplying thermal blankets, baby kits, and hygiene kits. Unicef/Arcos The depth of the refugee crisis across the world Cameroon Twelve-year-old Waibai Buka (centre) skips rope as a friend records a video of her with a computer tablet provided by Unicef at a school in Baigai. Waibai had to flee her village after an attack by Boko Haram. She has not seen her father since the attack and fears he might be dead. Unicef initiated a pilot project in January 2017 called “Connect My School”. Six solar-powered units help provide internet to schools in different parts of Cameroon. Two of the units were installed in schools in Cameroon’s Far North region – one in Minawao refugee camp, the other in Baigai, near the Nigerian border, where some 50 per cent of children have been displaced by Boko Haram-related violence. Unicef/Prinsloo

The interior minister Horst Seehofer noted that 2019 was the third year in a row in which asylum applications had fallen and said it showed efforts to clamp down on immigration were working.

“The numerous measures of recent years against uncontrolled immigration are working,” he said. However, he added that “migration pressure at the [EU’s] external borders and to Germany remains high”.

Germany was the first EU country to suspend the Dublin Protocol – which forces refugees to seek asylum in the first country in the bloc they enter – during the crisis in 2015.

At the time, Angela Merkel’s government was seen as effectively inviting in millions of people fleeing poverty, persecution and war in the Middle East and Africa.

Many, including much of the far-right in Ms Merkel’s own country, said the strategy would backfire but she insisted it was the right response to an “exceptional situation”.

The enormous inflow of asylum-seekers in 2015 created a backlog of cases for officials to work through, but figures released in 2017 showed numbers fell back sharply immediately after the peak and the migration authorities were able to handle the situation.

Despite the widespread perception among both prospective refugees and anti-immigration critics that Germany was a soft touch, figures released in 2017 showed that only 57 per cent of Syrian asylum claimants were approved and given full refugee status and the acceptance rate for all other nationalities was below half.

More than a million refugees have arrived in Germany since the start of the crisis (Getty)

The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees office released figures last year which showed Germany was hosting the fifth most refugees – 1.06m – of any nation on earth, and the most of any developed Western country.

However, Germany’s feat is less impressive when considered as a proportion of its total population. About 1.3 per cent of Germans are refugees, compared to 2.5 per cent in Sweden or a staggering 16 per cent in Lebanon.