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Overview of statistical practice
The Swedish Migration Agency publishes monthly statistical reports on asylum applications and first instance decisions. These include a breakdown per nationality, as well as statistics specifically relating to unaccompanied children.
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: 2022
| Applicants in 2022 | Pending at end of 2022 | Refugee status | Subsidiary protection | Humanitarian protection | Rejection | Refugee rate | Sub. Prot. rate | Humanitarian protection rate | Rejection rate | |
| Total | 16,734 | 8,445 | 2,770 | 761 | 523 | 6,174 | 27% | 7% | 5% | 60% |
| Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers | ||||||||||
| Afghanistan | 2,154 | 1,321 | 655 | 74 | 132 | 580 | 45% | 5% | 9% | 40% |
| Syria | 1,947 | 699 | 441 | 452 | 29 | 104 | 43% | 44% | 3% | 10% |
| Ukraine | 1,940 | 927 | 298 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 87% | 0% | 0% | 13% |
| Iraq | 1,329 | 802 | 81 | 8 | 46 | 637 | 10% | 1% | 6% | 83% |
| Eritrea | 793 | 148 | 187 | 7 | 16 | 42 | 74% | 3% | 6% | 17% |
| Russia | 747 | 398 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 255 | 7% | 0% | 2% | 91% |
| Uzbekistan | 680 | 260 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 348 | 5% | 0% | 0,3% | 95% |
| Iran | 621 | 409 | 77 | 0 | 16 | 218 | 25% | 0% | 5% | 70% |
| Colombia | 570 | 224 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 398 | 0,2% | 0,2% | 0,5% | 99% |
| Türkiye | 497 | 289 | 298 | 0 | 3 | 194 | 60% | 0% | 1% | 39% |
Source: Migration Agency Monthly Statistical Report December 2022, Dnr: 1.1.1.2-2022-1381, pages 9, 16; Statistics provided by the Migration Agency’s statistics unit Eurostat, table A05, A06, A08. Inadmissibility decisions are excluded. Please note that the Migration Agency uses different definitions in different reports, which makes the numbers different in the various sources. For example, the Migration Agency states that the number of asylum applications in 2022 was 16,734 in the Monthly Statistical Report, 16,738 in the statistics available on their website, 18,457 in the statistics provided by the SMA’s statistics unit Eurostat guidelines table A01 and 14,816 in the SMA’s Annual Report 2022, available in Swedish at: http://bitly.ws/AUE8. Please also note that these numbers are defined as first-time applicants, however, applications by persons who have previously had their applications rejected and who apply again after their expulsion decision has become statute-barred (which it is four years after the decision has become final) may also be registered as first-time applications.
Gender/age breakdown of the total number of applicants: 2022
| Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of applicants | 16,738 | 100% |
| Men (incl. children) | 10,736 | 64% |
| Women (incl. children) | 6,002 | 36% |
| Children | 4,038 | 24% |
| Unaccompanied children | 630 | 4% |
Source: Migration Agency, Asylum statistics, available at: http://bit.ly/2kkz2Vu. See also Migration Agency Monthly Statistical Report December 2022, Dnr: 1.1.1.2-2022-1381, 9. Please note that there is a minor discrepancy between these two sources.
Comparison between first instance and appeal decision rates: 2022
| First instance | Appeal | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of decisions | 14,242 | 100% | 9,571 | 100% |
| Positive decisions | 3,742 | 26% | 613 | 6% |
|
2,770 | 19% | not available | not available |
|
761 | 5% | not available | not available |
| Negative decisions | 6,174 | 43% | 8,076 | 84% |
Source: Migration Agency, Monthly Statistical Report December 2022, Dnr: 1.1.1.2-2022-1381, page 9, 16, 22. See also Migration Agency, Asylum statistics, available at: http://bit.ly/2kkz2Vu where the total number of decisions is recorded as 14,245, with 3,742 positive decisions and 5,874 negative decisions. According to the Migration Agency’s Monthly Statistical Report, positive decisions make up 37% of the total number of decisions tried on the merits of the application (excluding Dublin decisions and other cases not tried on the merits). However, the total numbers as well as the numbers concerning negative decisions from the two sources do not seem to add up. Negative decisions at first instance do not include inadmissibility decisions.
In addition to the positive and negative decisions in the appeal stage, appr. 9% were referred back to the SMA for processing. This is why the percentage of positive and negative decisions in appeal do not add up to 100%.