Almost 90 000 unaccompanied minors among asylum seekers registered in the EU in 2015

According to statistics released by Eurostat today, 88 300 asylum seekers applying for international protection in the Member States of the European Union in 2015 were considered to be unaccompanied minors. 51 per cent of them are Afghans. In the years 2008-2013, the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors was between 11 000 and 13 000 per year. It almost doubled in 2014 to reach slightly more than 23 000 persons, and then nearly quadrupled in 2015.

In 2015, the highest number of asylum applicants considered to be unaccompanied minors was registered in Sweden (with almost 35 300 unaccompanied minors, or 40% of all those registered in the EU Member States), followed by Germany (14 400, or 16%), Hungary (8 800, or 10%) and Austria (8 300, or 9%). Together these four Member States accounted for three-quarters of all asylum applicants considered unaccompanied minors registered in the EU in 2015.

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Eurostat: Almost 90 000 unaccompanied minors among asylum seekers registered in the EU in 2015