CHAPTER 5 Table 2 | New and appeal applications registered | 2011-2016 2014 2015 States 2011 734,100 2012 781,400 2013 870,700 1,401,700 2,063,900 2016* 1,941,700 UNHCR 98,800 125,500 203,200 245,700 269,400 208,100 Jointly** 31,700 22,800 5,800 12,900 17,800 26,300 Total 864,600 929,700 1,079,700 1,660,300 2,351,100 2,176,100 % UNHCR only 11 13 19 15 11 10 * Provisional figures ** Refers to refugee status determination conducted jointly by UNHCR and governments increase compared with 2015 (441,900) and 2014 (173,100), and it continued a trend of increasing numbers of asylum applications in Germany for the past nine years (Figure 17). Again, following trends of previous years, asylum claims from people from Syria were the highest single group at 266,300, more than six times that received in 2014. The number of applications from Afghans increased more than fourfold, from 31,400 in 2015 to 127,000 in 2016. The next most common nationality was Iraqi with 96,100 claims. Altogether, applications from Afghans, Iraqis and Syrians accounted for 68 per cent of all applications. Germany also received applications from 134 other countries in 2016, including the Islamic Republic of Iran (26,400), Eritrea (18,900), and Albania (14,900). The United States of America was the second-largest recipient of new asylum applications in 2016 with 262,000, an increase of 52 per cent over the previous year (172,700 claims) and more than double received in 2014 (121,200).58 Just over half (52 per cent) of the applications in the United States of America were from people from Mexico and Central America. While the numbers increased from that region compared with 2015, claims from Salvadorians nearly doubled from 18,900 the previous year to 33,600 in 2016, making it the most common country of origin.59 Other asylum-seekers came from Mexico (27,900), Guatemala (25,700), China (19,900), Honduras (19,500), and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (18,300). The number of people fleeing violence in the North of Central America increased to levels not seen since the 1980s, and the United States remained the main country receiving asylum applications from those fleeing countries in the region. Italy saw a sharp increase in new asylum claims and was the third-largest recipient with 123,000 new 40 applications, compared with 83,200 in 2015. Italy continued to receive an increasing number of arrivals by sea, an estimated 181,500 people in 2016, which partly accounts for the rise in asylum claims. The four main countries of origin of asylumseekers remained the same as in 2015: Nigeria continued to be the main country of origin, with some 27,100 claims in 2016, followed by those originating from Pakistan (13,700), the Gambia (8,900), and Senegal (7,600). Eritreans submitted some 7,400 claims for asylum in 2016, a tenfold increase compared to the 700 lodged in 2015. Turkey continued to receive individual asylum claims from nationalities other than Syrians, who receive protection under the Government’s Temporary Protection regime. Turkey thus became the fourthlargest recipient of new asylum claims, although the 78,600 claims in 2016 were significantly lower than the 133,200 recorded in 2015. Afghan asylumseekers continued to submit the most claims in 2016 with 34,800, a decrease from the particularly high 63,400 in 2015. Similarly, asylum claims from Iraqis remained the second-most common and declined from 53,800 in 2015 to 28,800 in 2016. In contrast, the number of asylum claims from Iranians increased to 12,100 in 2016 from 11,400 in 2015. As in 2015, these three countries accounted for the vast majority of newly received individual asylum claims in Turkey (96 per cent). 58 Estimated number of individuals based on the number of new cases (124,300) and multiplied by 1.46 to reflect the average number of individuals per case (Source: US Department of Homeland Security); and number of new ‘defensive’ asylum requests lodged with the Executive Office of Immigration Review (80,600, reported by individuals). 59 The number of claims by country of origin in the United States of America has not had the multiplication factor applied, since the number of persons per case by country of origin is not known. UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2016