In April 2026, 42 960 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, a 11% decrease compared with April 2025 (48 465) and a 9% decrease compared with March 2026 (47 155).
There were also 9 145 subsequent applicants, representing a 17% increase compared with April 2025 (7 835) and a 9% decrease compared with March 2026 (10 075).
This information comes from the monthly asylum data published by Eurostat today.
Source dataset: migr_asyappctzm
Largest group of asylum seekers from Venezuela
In April 2026, Venezuelans were the largest group of people seeking asylum (4 875 first-time applicants), followed by Afghans (3 830), Bangladeshis (2 630) and Sudanese (1 720).
Italy, France, Spain and Germany received 76% of first-time applicants
Italy (9 710), France (8 645), Spain (8 350) and Germany (6 140) received the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for three-quarters of all first-time applicants in the EU.
There were 9.5 first-time asylum applicants per 100 000 people in the EU in April 2026. Compared with the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2026), the highest rates of first-time applicants were recorded in Greece (26.1), ahead of Luxembourg (20.6) and Ireland (18.7).
930 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum
In April 2026, a total of 930 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU. The highest numbers of unaccompanied minors came from Somalia (190), Afghanistan (100), Sudan (75) Egypt (75) and Venezuela (55).
Source dataset: migr_asyumactm
The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (195), the Netherlands (190), France (95), Greece (90) and Spain (85).