SOFIA (Bulgaria), December 16 (SeeNews) – The number of first time asylum seekers in Bulgaria rose to 6,365 in the July-September period, up 82% in comparison to the previous quarter, according to data from the EU statistical office Eurostat.
In the third quarter of 2016, Bulgaria had an average of 890 first time applicants per million inhabitants, with only four other EU countries having a higher number, Eurostat said in a press release on Thursday. Bulgaria's population is around 7 million.
Bulgaria's northern neighbour Romania had a total of 445 first time applicants in the July-September period, which represents an increase of 108% in comparison to the previous quarter.
Romania had 22 applicants per million inhabitants in the July-September period, the lowest number out of all four EU member states in Southeast Europe. Out of the 28 EU member states, only two had a lower number. Romania has a population of 19.7 million.
Arrivals of first time asylum seekers in the EU rose 17% to a total of 358,300 in the third quarter of 2016, Eurostat said.
The average number of applicants per million EU inhabitants was 702 in the third quarter of 2016.
Following are details about the first time asylum seekers in the EU member states in Southeast Europe in the July-September period:
|
First time applicants in Q3 |
Applicants per million inhabitants in Q3 |
Bulgaria |
6,365 |
890 |
Croatia |
435 |
104 |
Romania |
445 |
22 |
Slovenia |
265 |
127 |