More Syrian asylum seekers and following relatives

In Q3 2019, the number of asylum seekers was up by over 700 relative to the previous quarter, but down by almost 300 relative to Q3 2018. The number of following family members increased by 320 relative to Q2 and by 80 year-on-year.

More Syrian asylum seekers and following relatives

The overall increase was mainly due to more Syrian asylum seekers and following relatives. Their number rose by 46 percent, from 975 in Q2 to 1,420 in Q3. There were also more Eritrean, Turkish and Algerian applicants, while a decline was seen in the number of applicants from Nigeria and Iran. These six nationalities comprised the largest groups of asylum seekers and following family members in Q2 and Q3 2019.

Syrians slightly older

Nearly 30 percent of the Syrian asylum seekers and following relatives who came to the Netherlands in Q3 2019 were over the age of 35. Among the other nationalities, this was 22 percent. In previous quarters as well, Syrians were slightly older on average. The share of young people (under the age of 18) was slightly lower than among the other nationalities, namely 27 percent versus 31 percent.