Story highlights Sweden received 163,000 applications from asylum-seekers in last year

Typically, about 45% of those are rejected, Interior Ministry spokesman says

Twenty-four migrants, including 10 children, drown crossing Mediterranean

(CNN) Sweden's interior minister said his country is preparing to expel 80,000 asylum-seekers over the course of the next year, according to media reports.

However, his press secretary, Victor Harju, told CNN not to put too much stock in those figures. He called them vague, hypothetical estimates based on last year's numbers.

"It's that 163,00 people were seeking asylum in Sweden last year and, due to this increase, there will also be an increase in how many ... don't stay," he said.

On average, about 45% of those applications get rejected, Harju said, which adds up to about 80,000, the figure that Interior Minister Anders Ygeman cited.