Author
Overview of statistical practice
The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) publishes Asylum Trends with statistics on asylum and family reunification applications on a monthly basis.[1] These do not indicate decisions on asylum applications, however. While this report provides some statistical information on the year 2024, various data was not made publicly available by the time of writing of this report.
Applications in 2024
Statistics on applicants concern people, including children and dependents.
| Total applicants in 2024 | First time applicants in 2024 | Subsequent applicants in 2024 | |
| Total** | 33,760 | 32,175 | 1,585 |
| Breakdown by top 10 countries of origin | |||
| Syria | 11,655 | 11,526 | 130 |
| Iraq | 2,306 | 2,222 | 84 |
| Türkiye | 1,905 | 1,868 | 37 |
| Eritrea | 1,506 | 1,464 | 42 |
| Unknown[2] | 1,437* | 1,412 | 25* |
| Algeria | 1,216 | 952 | 264 |
| Somalia | 1,119 | 1,076 | 43 |
| Yemen | 1,089* | 1,079 | 10* |
| Nigeria | 931 | 770 | 161 |
| Iran | 742 | 703 | 39 |
| Others | 9,853 | 9,103 | 750 |
Source: IND, Asylum trends, available at: https://bit.ly/42iazFn. supplemented with EURSTAT data for the subsequent applications for the nationalities Yemen and Unknown Statistics | Eurostat and are rounded to the nearest 5.
**Please note that the totals shown in all tables reflect all nationalities, not only the 10 nationalities with the highest number of applications.
* Numbers marked with an asterisk are numbers from Eurostat, and rounded to the nearest 5. In the column Totals, the Eurostat numbers added to the IND numbers have also been marked with an asterisk for the same reason.
Granting of protection status at first instance: figures for 2024
Pending applications at the end of 2024: 49,860.[3]
Based on Eurostat explanatory texts, this data refers to the number of persons covered by rejection/protection decisions, rather than the number of decisions (which may cover more than one person).[4]
| Total decisions in 2024 (1) | Total rejections (2) | Refugee status | Subsidiary protection | Humanitarian protection (3) | |
| Total** | 21,180[5] | 5,225 | 5,275 | 9,910 | 780 |
| Breakdown by top 10 countries of origin of applicants | |||||
| Syria | 10,740 | 535 | 2,875 | 7,210 | 115 |
| Türkiye | 1,460 | 405 | 800 | 15 | 245 |
| Eritrea | 1,166 | 110 | 0 | 1035 | 15 |
| Yemen | 830 | 200 | 50 | 550 | 20 |
| Somalia | 785 | 340 | 60 | 350 | 25 |
| Unknown[6] | 550 | 95 | 160 | 255 | 45 |
| Iran | 450 | 140 | 230 | 15 | 65 |
| Afghanistan | 435 | 145 | 200 | 45 | 40 |
| Algeria | 425 | 415 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Iraq | 355 | 150 | 30 | 145 | 25 |
Source: Eurostat, First instance decisions on applications by type of decision, citizenship, age and sex – quarterly aggregated data, available at https://bit.ly/4442NzO.
** Please note that the totals shown in the table reflect all nationalities, not only the 10 nationalities with the highest number of decisions. However, disaggregated data per nationality is only available for these 10 nationalities.
Note 1: Statistics on decisions cover the decisions taken throughout the year, regardless of whether they concern applications lodged that year or in previous years.
Note 2: Due to lack of disaggregated data, rejections include both rejections on the merits and inadmissibility, etc..
Note 3: Humanitarian protection in the Dutch context refers to the ‘derived asylum status’ for family members. Some family members who were not eligible for international protection themselves, but who came to the Netherlands together with a family member who was eligible for international protection, might receive a ‘derived asylum status’ upon their asylum request that was originally declined. This includes spouses, partners, children and parents of minor children.[7]
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: rates for 2024
| Overall rejection rate | Overall protection rate | Refugee rate | Subsidiary
protection rate |
Humanitarian
protection rate |
||
| Total* | 24.7% | 75.3% | 24.9% | 46.8% | 3.7% | |
| Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers | ||||||
| Syria | 5.0% | 95.0% | 26.8% | 67.2% | 1.1% | |
| Türkiye | 27.6% | 72.4% | 54.6% | 1.0% | 16.7% | |
| Eritrea | 9.5% | 90.5% | 0.0% | 89.2% | 1.3% | |
| Yemen | 24.4% | 75.6% | 6.1% | 67.1% | 2.4% | |
| Somalia | 43.9% | 56.1% | 7.7% | 45.2% | 3.2% | |
| Unknown[8] | 17.1% | 82.9% | 28.8% | 45.9% | 8.1% | |
| Iran | 31.1% | 68.9% | 51.1% | 3.3% | 14.4% | |
| Afghanistan | 33.7% | 66.3% | 46.5% | 10.5% | 9.3% | |
| Algeria | 98.8% | 1.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.2% | |
| Iraq | 42.9% | 57.1% | 8.6% | 41.4% | 7.1% | |
Source of the percentages: Percentages calculated by the Dutch Refugee Council, on the basis of the raw data from Eurostat provided in the table above.
* Please note that the totals shown in the table reflect all nationalities, not only the 10 nationalities with the highest recognition rates. However, disaggregated data per nationality is only available for these 10 nationalities.
Notes:
- Due to lack of disaggregated data, these rates are calculated based on total decisions, including inadmissibility decisions, which do not always imply that the persons did not have a -potentially recognised- protection need.
- These rates are calculated including humanitarian protection among positive and total decisions.
Gender/age breakdown of the total number of applicants: 2024
| Adults | Children | ||
| Accompanied | Unaccompanied | ||
| Number | 24,660 | 4,838 | 3,937 |
| Percentage | 73.8% | 14.5% | 11.8% |
| Men | Women | Unknown | |
| Number | 23,995 | 7915 | 15 |
| Percentage | 75.2% | 24.8% | <0.1% |
Source: Eurostat https://bit.ly/4lffy0Q, data on unaccompanied children IND Asylum Trends, https://bit.ly/4hW2Wc6. The total of accompanied children is calculated by the Dutch Council for Refugees by deducting the number of Unaccompanied Children from IND from the number of Children from Eurostat.
Note: The gender breakdown (Men/Women) applies to all applicants, not only adults.
First instance and appeal decision rates: 2024
National authorities did not provide detailed statistics on second instance decisions at the time of writing of the report.
[1] IND, Asylum trends, available at: http://bit.ly/3YJwEXS.
[2] Unknown nationality refers to applicants who cannot prove their nationality. They either have a nationality or they are stateless, but they are not able to prove this or the IND does not believe the nationality they claim to have. See the website of the Government, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3PKWrNY and Workinstruction 2018/12 IND as identifying partner: changing identification registration by the IND, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3vFpc80.
[3] IND, Kwartaalcijfers 2024, pending at the end of 2024 in Track 1: 4,030; Track 2: 190; Track 4 (first time applicants, repeated applicants, applicants whose applications had to be reassessed after a court decision, applicants who changed Track and Resettled applicants): 45,640, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3TTfeJw.
[4] The numbers are taken from Eurostat. Please note that the sum of rounded numbers for (a) total rejections and (b) the sum of all types of positive decisions, do not add up to the same number as the number for total decisions.
[5] Total decisions including Track 1 (Dublin) and 2 (Safe countries of origin and EU-beneficiaries of international protection), Repeated applicants, applicants whose applications had to be reassessed after a court decision, applicants who changed Track and Resettled applicants: 34,980, source: IND, Jaarcijfers 2024, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3TTfeJw.
[6] Unknown nationality refers to applicants who cannot prove their nationality. They either have a nationality or they are stateless, but they are not able to prove this or the IND does not believe the nationality they claim to have. See the website of the Government, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3PKWrNY and Workinstruction 2018/12 IND as identifying partner: changing identification registration by the IND, available in Dutch at: https://bit.ly/3vFpc80.
[7] Based on information received by the IND in March 2024.
[8] Unknown nationality refers to applicants who cannot prove their nationality. They either have a nationality or they are Stateless, but they are not able to prove this or the IND does not believe the nationality they claim to have. See the website of the Government, available in Dutch at https://bit.ly/3PKWrNY and Workinstruction 2018/12 IND as identifying partner: changing identification registration by the IND, available in Dutch at https://bit.ly/3vFpc80.