Table 2 New and appeal applications registered | 2010-2015 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015* Total 747,300 96,800 6,200 850,300 734,100 98,800 31,700 864,600 781,400 125,500 22,800 929,700 870,700 203,200 5,800 1,079,700 1,401,700 245,700 12,900 1,660,300 2,167,200 269,700 17,800 2,454,700 % UNHCR only 11% 11% 13% 19% 15% 11% States UNHCR Jointly ** * Provisional figures ** Refers to refugee status determination conducted jointly by UNHCR and Governments New Individual Asylum Applications Registered 36 Germany was the largest single recipient of new asylum applications, with 441,900 registered during 2015. This is more than double the number registered a year earlier (173,100) and the eighth consecutive increase for Germany Figure 16 . The greatest number of applications was received from individuals originating from the Syrian Arab Republic – 158,700 new applications, more than four times the number received during 2014 (39,300). Germany also saw a dramatic increase in the number of new asylum applications from people from Albania, rising from 7,900 claims to 53,800, a more than sixfold increase. Overall, the Syrian Arab Republic was the top country of origin for asylum-seekers, followed by Albania, Serbia and Kosovo: S/RES/1244 (1999) 37 (50,100), Afghanistan (31,400), Iraq (29,800), and Eritrea (10,900). The United States of America was the second-largest host of new asylum-seekers in 2015 with 172,700 claims38, a 42 per cent increase from 2014 (121,200). An increasing proportion of claims in the country are from Mexico and countries in Central America, reaching 51 per cent in 2015 compared with 42 per cent in 2014 and 35 per cent in 2013; these individuals come mainly from Mexico (19,300), El Salvador (18,900), Guatemala (16,400), and Honduras (14,300) 39 . Violence and persecution generated by transnational organized crime, gang-related violence, and drug cartels in some parts of Central America are likely to be the primary cause behind the increasing numbers of asylum-seekers from Central America seeking international protection in the United States of America. China was also a significant origin of many asylumseekers in the United States of America, with 15,100 claims in 2015. Sweden ranked third in 2015 with 156,400 new applications for asylum, more than double the previous year (75,100). While there has been a significant increase in Syrian claims for asylum, from 30,300 in 2014 to 50,900 in 2015, most of this increase has derived from increases in claims from other nationalities. 38 UNHCR Global Trends 2015 Of particular note are applications from individuals from Afghanistan, which increased sharply from 2,900 in 2014 to 41,300 in 2015, and from Iraq, which saw a similarly large increase from 1,700 to 20,300. As a result, Sweden was the second-largest recipient of Syrian and Afghan asylum-seekers in 2015 (after Germany and Turkey, respectively) and the third-largest for Iraqis after Germany and Turkey. A total of 152,500 new applications for asylum were lodged in the Russian Federation in 2015, making it the fourth-largest recipient of claims for asylum. This figure represents a sharp decrease from the unusually high level of asylum claims in 2014 (274,700), which had been a response to the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Still, the ongoing impact of that conflict is reflected in the fact that 98 per cent of all claims in 2015 were from Ukrainian asylum-seekers, with nearly all of these claims (149,900) for temporary asylum. In addition to the Syrian refugee population in Turkey, all covered by the Government’s temporary protection regime, there also has been a rise in the number of individual asylum claims registered with UNHCR. In Turkey, the Office registered 133,300 new claims in 2015 compared with 87,800 in 2014, meaning that Turkey is the fifth-largest recipient of individual new asylum claims. Iraqi asylum-seekers continued 36 Figures quoted in this section relate to new asylum applications lodged at the first instance. Appeal, court, repeat, or re-opened applications are, to the extent possible, excluded. 37 References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999), henceforth referred to in this document as Kosovo (S/RES/1244 (1999)). 38 Estimated number of individuals based on the number of new affirmative asylum cases lodged with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Asylum Division(90,579) and multiplied by 1.406 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 (45,385, reported by individuals) (Source: US Department of Justice). 39 These numbers reflect the sum of (1) asylum applications filed affirmatively before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Asylum Division and (2) individuals who filed for asylum defensively before Executive Office of Immigration Review. The former is reflected as number of cases and can include more than one individual per case. The asylum applications totals by nationality are not adjusted by average case size and thus, underrepresent the total number of individuals who request asylum from the U.S. government for a particular nationality.