Malta registers third highest rate of first-time asylum applicants in relation to population

Malta had the third highest rate of first-time applicants for asylum, relative to its population, in the third quarter of 2016 among EU member states, Eurostat figures show.

Malta registered 1,091 first-time applicants for asylum per million inhabitants, bringing the actual number of first-time applicants to 475. This translates to 0.1% of the total EU share of first-time asylum applicants.

Malta follows Germany and Greece which registered 2,890 and 1,152 first time applicants per million inhabitants respectively. In real terms, this means that Germany recorded 237,430 first-time asylum applicants (66.3% of the total EU share), while Greece recorded 12,425 (3.5% of the total EU share).

In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Slovakia, Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic and Estonia, which recorded seven, 19, 22, 28, and 30 applicants per million inhabitants respectively.

In total, 358,300 first-time asylum seekers applied for international protection in EU member states in the third quarter of the year, marking a 17% rise when compared with the second quarter.

From January to September 2016, more than 950,000 first-time asylum seekers were registered in the EU member states.

Of the number of first-time asylum applicants in the third quarter, 87,900 of them were Syrians, who remained the main citizenship of people seeking international protection in the EU member states, ahead of Afghans (62,100 first-time applicants) and Iraqis (36,400).