In 2017, German authorities granted over 325,000 asylum applications
As reported by Deutsche Welle, Germany granted over 325,000 applications, accounting for about 60 percent of all applications approved by EU countries. Significantly fewer positive decisions were made in France and Italy, which granted over 40,000 and about 35,000 applications respectively.
Over the past year, the European Union granted asylum to more than half a million people, according to Luxembourg. The number of positively reviewed applications fell by nearly 25 percent. Most asylum seekers come to the EU from the Middle East and Asia. Specifically, 33 percent of applicants, or nearly 176,000 people, arrived from Syria, 19 percent from Afghanistan, and 12 percent from Iraq, the agency states.
In total, over 271,000 people received refugee status in the EU last year, and 189,000 immigrants are under so-called 'subsidiary protection,' according to Eurostat. Another 77,000 applicants were granted residence permits on humanitarian grounds.
The likelihood of a successful application depends on the applicant's nationality. For instance, applications from Albanian citizens were approved in only 5 percent of cases. Meanwhile, for applications from Syria and Eritrea, positive decisions were made in over 90 percent of cases.