After a slowdown in the summer, asylum applications of Albanian citizens have again shown an increase in the last months of 2023.

According to Eurostat data, in October and November, there were over 870 applications in one of the European Union countries, up from less than 700 during the summer months, reaching the highest level since March 2013.

However, compared to the previous year, the number of applications has still decreased, but the recent upward trend in the last months may signal a revival of the migration cycle, which, after peaking in 2022, slowed down in most of 2023.

According to Eurostat, for the January-November 2023 period, there were a total of 8,575 asylum applications for an 11-month period from Albanian citizens in one of the EU countries. Compared to the same period a year ago, applications have decreased by 29%.

Unlike previous years when the highest number of applications was in the summer and then declined, in 2023, the trend has been the opposite. Applications have shown an increase in September, October, and November.

France continues to be the preferred destination for Albanian asylum seekers, experiencing a significant increase compared to the summer months. The same trend was observed for Germany, where after a decline in the summer, an increase was noted in October and November.

According to Eurostat data, for the entire 11-month period, France received 43% of the applications, followed by Germany with 27%, and Italy with 18.5%.

Europe

According to Eurostat, in October 2023, 114,830 non-EU citizens applied for international protection in EU countries for the first time, an increase of 17% compared to October 2022 (97,980).

There were also 6,225 repeated applications, representing a 2% decrease compared to October 2022 (6,380).

Syrian nationals remain the largest group of asylum seekers

Following the trend of previous months, Syrians continued to be the largest group of people seeking asylum in October (24,330 first-time applications). They were followed by Turks (15,630), Afghans (9,900), Venezuelans (5,070), and Colombians (4,835).

Germany, Italy, France, and Spain received 66% of all first-time asylum applications

As in previous months, in October 2023, Germany (34,000), Italy (14,950), France (14,900), and Spain (12,505) continued to receive the highest number of first-time asylum applications, accounting for 66% of all first-time applications in the EU.

In October 2023, the total number of all first-time asylum applications in the entire EU was 256 per million people.

Compared to the population of each EU country (as of January 1, 2023), the highest rate of registered first-time applications in October 2023 was in Cyprus (1,188 per million people), Austria (1,050), and Greece (959). The lowest rate was recorded in Hungary (0.3).

5,040 unaccompanied minors applying for asylum in EU countries

In October 2023, 5,040 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU, mostly from Syria (1,975) and Afghanistan (1,150).

The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum requests from unaccompanied minors were Germany (1,635), the Netherlands (950), Austria (720), Bulgaria (485), and Greece (425).