In 2017, 650,000 first time asylum seekers applied for international protection in the Member States of the European Union, with the majority coming from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. This is around half of the number of asylum seekers in 2016, when 1.2 million arrived in Europe, according to new data from Eurostat.

By far the most attractive destination for asylum seekers last year was Germany, with 3 in 10 applying to stay in Germany, followed by Italy, France and Greece. 198,000 applied to stay in Germany, whilst only 33,000 applied in the UK and 30,000 in Spain.

Croatia was well down the list of attractive destinations for asylum seekers. In 2016 Croatia received 2,150 applications however this number has fallen by 59 percent last year to 880 first time applicants. In fact, the number of asylum seekers in Croatia in 2017 was a mere 0.1 percent of the European Union share.