About this report:

This UNHCR Statistical Report gives an overview of asylum levels and trends in industrialized countries during the first half of 2011.

Key findings:
A. An estimated 198,300 asylum applications were recorded during the first six months of 2011 in the 44 industrialized countries included in the report (17% more than during the same period 2010 (169,300).

B. As application rates normally peak during the second half of the year, UNHCR projects that 2011 may see 420,000 applications by year’s end – the highest total in eight years.

C. 2011 has so far seen major forced displacement crises in Africa (increases in asylum claims among Tunisians, Ivorians, and Libyans but overall, the impact of these events on application rates in industrialized countries has been limited.

D. The main countries of origin of asylum-seekers remained largely unchanged from previous reports: Afghanistan (15,300 claims), China (11,700 claims), Serbia [and Kosovo: SC Res. 1244] (10,300 claims), Iraq (10,100 claims), and the Islamic Republic of Iran (7,600 claims).

E. By country, the United States of America had more claims (36,400) than any other industrialized nation, followed by France (26,100), Germany (20,100), Sweden (12,600), and the United Kingdom (12,200).

F. The Nordic region was the only part of Europe to see a fall in asylum applications. The largest relative increase was registered in southern Europe which received 25,100 asylum requests during the first semester of 2011: a 57 per cent increase compared to the first six months of 2010 (16,000 claims).

This report is available in English only.

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