In August 2018, a total of 15,122 formal asylum applications (including 13,141 first-time and 1,981 follow-up applications) were lodged with the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), which is 0.5% fewer than in July 2018 and 18.9% fewer than in August 2017. Most applications were filed by Syrian, Iraqi and Turkish nationals.

From January to August 2018, a total of 127,525 formal asylum applications were lodged (including 111,685 first-time and 15,840 follow-up applications), i.e. 22,355 (or 14.9%) fewer than during the same period in the previous year.

The figures in detail:

I. Current month: formal asylum applications and decisions

In August 2018, BAMF received 15,122 asylum applications (including 13,141 first-time and 1,981 follow-up applications). This means that 3,529 (or 18.9%) fewer applications were filed than in August 2017. Compared to July 2018, the number dropped by 77 (0.5%).

Most frequent nationalities in August 2018       

	TOP 10 nationalities	June 2018	July 2018	August 2018
	Total	13,254	15,199	15,122
1	Syria	3,002	3,786	3,403
2	Iraq	1,252	1,415	1,464
3	Turkey	930	1,172	1,243
4	Iran	740	862	1,208
5	Afghanistan	1,009	1,033	941
6	Nigeria	935	944	829
7	Russian Federation	391	437	552
8	Unkown	424	449	487
9	Somalia	417	463	456
10	Eritrea	423	325	328

(Note: Monthly figures do not include subsequent reports and corrections. These are included only in the overall figures for the current year. This means that the sum of the individual monthly figures does not equal the current annual figure.)

In August 2018, BAMF decided on 16,623 applications (August 2017: 37,214; July 2018: 13,744).

A total of 3,438 persons (20.7%) were granted the legal status of refugees under the Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the status of refugees (Geneva Convention). This included 193 persons (1.2%) qualifying for asylum under Article 16a of the Basic Law and 3,245 persons (19.5%) who were granted refugee protection under Section 3 of the Asylum Act in conjunction with Section 60 (1) of the Residence Act.

A total of 1,956 persons (11.8%) were granted subsidiary protection within the meaning of Directive 2011/95/EU under Section 4 of the Asylum Act. In addition, in 571 cases (3.4 %) BAMF imposed deportation bans pursuant to Section 60 (5) or Section 7, first sentence, of the Residence Act.

5,042 applications (30.3%) were rejected.

5,616 applications (33.8%) were otherwise resolved (e.g. decisions in the Dublin procedure or discontinued proceedings because applications were withdrawn).

In late August 2018, decisions on 59,410 applications were pending (on 30 July 2018: 57,273; on 31 August 2017: 114,202).

II. Formal asylum applications and decisions in 2018

From January to August 2018, a total of 127,525 formal asylum applications were lodged (including 111,685 first-time and 15,840 follow-up applications), i.e. 22,355 (or 14.9%) fewer than during the same period in the previous year (149,880 applications).

Most frequent nationalities from January to August 2018 compared to the same period in the previous year:

		January - August 2018	January - August 2017
1	Syria	31,614	33,574
2	Iraq	12,399	14,875
3	Afghanistan	8,427	13,281
4	Nigeria	8,069	5,260
5	Iran	6,864	6,297
6	Turkey	6,796	4,709
7	Eritrea	4,565	7,676
8	Somalia	4,300	5,173
9	Russian Federation	3,633	4,409
10	Unkown	3,437	3,000

From January to August 2018, BAMF decided on 154,257 applications, which is 326,480 (67.9%) fewer than during the same period in the previous year. A total of 24,943 persons (16.2%) were granted the legal status of refugees under the Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the status of refugees (Geneva Convention). This included 1,978 persons (1.3%) qualifying for asylum under Article 16a of the Basic Law and 22,965 persons (14.9%) who were granted refugee protection under Section 3 of the Asylum Act in conjunction with Section 60 (1) of the Residence Act.

A total of 17,499 persons (11.3%) were granted subsidiary protection within the meaning of Directive 2011/95/EU under Section 4 of the Asylum Act. In addition, in 7,216 cases (4.7%) BAMF imposed deportation bans pursuant to Section 60 (5) or Section 7, first sentence, of the Residence Act.

54,620 applications (35.4%) were rejected.

49,979 applications (32.4%) were otherwise resolved (e.g. decisions in the Dublin procedure or discontinued proceedings because applications were withdrawn).

For more information, please visit www.bmi.bund.de or www.bamf.de.

• PDF, 89KB, File does not meet accessibility standards.

• read out
• download