Germany saw the highest number of asylum applications last year since 2017, according to new figures from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

In 2021, 190,800 asylum applications were filed in the country, according to the new figures seen by Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) ahead of their official release.

Some 148,000 of those were foreigners who were applying for asylum in Germany for the first time – the highest number since 2018. Around 17.5% of these first-time applications were submitted for children under 1 year of age who were born in Germany.

According to Interior Ministry figures, the largest group of those seeking asylum in Germany – more than 70,000 people – came from Syria. This has been the case for several years as the civil war in Syria continues.

The number of people from Afghanistan who applied for asylum has gone up in the wake of the Taliban again taking power in the country in August last year. More than 31,000 Afghans applied for asylum in Germany in 2021.

In 2020 around 122,000 asylum applications were filed in Germany, but the Interior Ministry pointed out that a comparison with asylum figures for 2020 is not very meaningful due to the impact of travel restrictions imposed around the world to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2017, over 222,600 people applied.