Author
Overview of statistical practice
Statistics in Spain are collected by the Office on Asylum and Refuge (OAR), and published on an annual basis by the Ministry of Interior.
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: figures for 2023
| Applications lodged in 2023 (1) | Pending for admission at 1st instance at end of 2023 | Pending for decision at
end of 2023 |
Total decisions 2023 | Total in merit decisions | Total rejection | Refugee status | Subsidiary protection | Humanitarian protection (2) | |
| Total | 163,220 | 106,546 | 84,549 | N/A | N/A | 35,392 | 7,330 | 3,833 | 41,487 |
| Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers | |||||||||
| Venezuela | 60,534 | ||||||||
| Colombia | 53,564 | ||||||||
| Peru | 14,308 | ||||||||
| Honduras | 3,685 | ||||||||
| Cuba | 3,082 | ||||||||
Source: Ministerio del Interior, Subsecretaría del Interior, Dirección General de Política Interior, Avance de datos de protección internacional, aplicación del Reglamento de Dublín y reconocimiento del estatuto de apátrida. Datos provisionales acumulados entre el 1 de enero y el 31 de diciembre de 2023, January 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/34jtmrh8.
(1) Applications refers to the total number of applicants, and not only to first-time applicants.
(2) Humanitarian protection is foreseen by Article 46 of the Asylum Law, and it is granted by the same asylum autorithies. Its is commonly granted according to exceptional circumstances of vulnerability, health issues, psychological conditions, etc. The law does not foresee a closed list of circumstances determining the protection for humanitarian reasons, and the jurisprudence considers that such conditions have to be related to the return of the applicant to the country of origin and how this fact would impact his/her vulnerability. Applicants of international protection who are granted humanitarian protection have the right to remain in the country.
The top 5 countries of persons granted any form of international protection (refugee status and subsidiary protection) in 2023 were Mali (2,362), Afghanistan (1,120), Syria (1,053), Nicaragua (837), and Honduras (736), while the top 5 countries of persons who were granted protection for humanitarian reasons were Venezuela (40,674), Colombia (260), Peru (192), Chile (121), and Argentina (75).
The top 5 countries of applications rejected were Colombia (15,089), Morocco (3,787), Peru (3,197), Honduras (2,578), and Senegal (1,067).
Gender/age breakdown of the total number of applicants: 2023
| Adults | Children
(Accompanied and unaccompanied) |
|
| Number | 131,791 | 31,429 |
| Percentage | 80.74% | 19.26% |
| Men | Women | |
| Number | 86,004 | 77,216 |
| Percentage | 52.69% | 47.30% |
Source: Ministerio del Interior, Subsecretaría del Interior, Dirección General de Política Interior, ‘Avance de datos de protección internacional, aplicación del Reglamento de Dublín y reconocimiento del estatuto de apátrida. Datos provisionales acumulados entre el 1 de enero y el 31 de diciembre de 2023’, January 2024, available at: https://shorturl.at/gEV24.
First instance and appeal decision rates: 2023
National authorities did not provide detailed statistics on first instance and second instance decisions at the time of writing of this report.