EU countries received 42,960 first-time asylum applications from non-EU citizens in April 2026, according to Eurostat. That was 11% fewer than in April 2025 and 9% fewer than in March 2026.
A first-time application is recorded when a person applies for international protection for the first time in a reporting country. Eurostat counted a further 9,145 subsequent applications in April.
Where applications were lodged
Italy received 9,710 first-time applications, followed by France with 8,645, Spain with 8,350 and Germany with 6,140. Together, those four countries accounted for 76% of the EU total.
The distribution looks different when population size is taken into account. Greece recorded the highest rate at 26.1 first-time applicants per 100,000 residents. Luxembourg followed at 20.6 and Ireland at 18.7. The EU average was 9.5.
Who applied
Venezuelans were the largest nationality group, with 4,875 first-time applicants. Afghans accounted for 3,830, Bangladeshis for 2,630 and Sudanese for 1,720.
Nationality totals describe the number of applications. They do not show how many people will receive protection, since decisions are made later under separate procedures.
Unaccompanied minors
Eurostat recorded 930 first-time applications from unaccompanied minors. The largest nationality groups were from Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Egypt and Venezuela.
Germany and the Netherlands received the highest numbers of these applications, followed by France, Greece and Spain.
Important limits in the data
Czechia's April data were unavailable, so March figures were used in the EU total. Spain's figures were provisional. France's data for unaccompanied minors were estimated, while Poland did not provide data for that group.
Month-to-month figures can also change because of processing patterns, reporting delays and events affecting particular nationalities. A single month should not be treated as a long-term forecast.
Primary record