Statistics on Asylum Applications in Germany

According to BAMF (2016), in 2015 Germany acknowledged an increase in asylum applications in comparison to 2014 by 155.3% (441 899 applications) and made decisions on 282 726 asylum applications, of which 49.8% were positive decisions (140 915 positive decisions). The majority of applications were submitted by Syrians (35.9%), followed by Albanians (12.2%) and Kosovars (7.6%). Albanian and Kosovar requests have a very low rate of asylum recognition (Albania: 0.2% Kosovo: 0.4%), whereas Syrian (96% of applicants were recognised as refugees in 2015) Iraqi (88.6% in 2015) and Afghans (47.6% in 2015) have a higher rate. In 2016 the number of applicants further increased sharply (63.5% increase compared to 2015). The BAMF received 722 370 first applications for asylum, of which 62.4% were granted (433 920 positive decisions). According BAMF (2016), Most applications were made (36.9 %) for Syrians (recognition rate 98%), followed by 17.6% for Afghans (recognition rate 55.8%) and 13.3% for Iraqis (recognition rate 70.2%). The sharp increase in 2016 does not reflect a high inflow but rather a backlog in the handling of applications submitted in 2015 (OECD, 2016:190/191).