Show this to anybody who says 'asylum seeker' applications are rising in the UK

The number of first time asylum applicants to the UK and to the EU fell by 4 per cent in 2016 compared to 2015.

Data from Eurostat revealed that Sweden had the largest decline in the number of first time applicants, receiving 86 per cent fewer in 2016.

Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Austria also had sharp drops in the proportion of applicants.

Croatia had the largest percentage difference, a huge 1,413 per cent change from 2015 to 2016.

However, the real number of applications increased by 2,010, a much smaller increase than Germany who had 280,465 more applicants, but only a 63 per cent difference.

Germany was already receiving a high amount of first time applicants in 2015, while Croatia received very few (140) in 2015.

Most popular states for asylum applications.

Germany received 722,265 applicants in 2016, more than half (60 per cent) of all applications to EU member states.

The UK by contrast received 3.2 per cent of EU total, 28,290 asylum seekers trying to reach the UK for the first time.

How that translates to national populations

In terms of number of applications to the UK, the figure was 38, 290 - or 560 applicants per million residents of the UK.

Rising back log

Eurostat also revealed the number of applications left 'Pending' each year.

At the end of 2016 more than a million people waiting for international protection in the EU were still under consideration by the responsible national authority.

This was over 90,000 more than at the end of 2015.

More than half (55 per cent) of all applications to an EU member state was 'pending' at the end of 2016.

Germany had the largest share in the EU, followed by Italy, Sweden, and Austria.

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