Countries by Asylum-seekers by country or territory of origin
Venezuela ranks first among all countries by asylum-seekers originating from its territory, with 1,360,041 individuals whose claims have not yet been determined as of 2024. At the other end, five countries including Cayman Islands, Curacao, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Palau record zero asylum-seekers originating from their territory. The gap between first and last spans over 1.36 million people.
Ranking 2024
Analysis
This metric counts asylum-seekers by their country or territory of origin. According to the source definition, asylum-seekers are individuals who have sought international protection and whose claims for refugee status have not yet been determined. This includes those who are in various stages of the asylum process, such as initial application, appeal, or awaiting final decision. In specific contexts, asylum-seekers may also include those who are seeking protection under complementary forms of protection. The unit is an absolute count of individuals. Data comes from the World Bank World Development Indicators under indicator code SM.POP.ASYS.EO, covering 203 countries for the data year 2024. Coverage is strong: 203 countries have data, 100 percent of datapoints are classified as official quality, and 97.5 percent of countries have data from the latest year. The viability check identified 29 extreme outliers using a 3-standard-deviation threshold, and average year-over-year change across the dataset is 40.3 percent.
The top of the ranking is dominated by countries in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Venezuela (rank 1) records 1,360,041 asylum-seekers, nearly double the second-ranked Sudan at 682,535. Colombia ranks third at 397,872, followed by Afghanistan at 384,732 and Nicaragua at 356,201. Cuba (rank 6, 344,138) and Haiti (rank 7, 275,050) continue the concentration of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the top ten. Somalia ranks ninth at 237,183 and Mexico ranks tenth at 204,729. India (rank 11, 202,933) and China (rank 13, 180,960) represent large-population countries with substantial pending asylum claims. Syria ranks fourteenth at 167,334 and the Democratic Republic of Congo fifteenth at 165,456, reflecting long-standing displacement pressures visible in the data.
The middle of the ranking shows a wide spread of regions. Ukraine ranks 35th at 44,349, while Georgia ranks 37th at 35,010. The United States ranks 99th at 2,409, a notably low figure relative to its population size and global standing, placing it between North Macedonia (rank 98, 2,468) and Costa Rica (rank 100, 2,381). Spain ranks 102nd at 1,979 and Germany ranks 128th at 853, both low compared to many countries in the Global South. Australia ranks 167th at 83 and Switzerland ranks 175th at just 50. A cluster of small island states and territories anchor the bottom, with Tuvalu at rank 188 recording 11 asylum-seekers and multiple territories such as Cayman Islands, Curacao, Luxembourg, Monaco, and Palau recording zero.
Several limitations apply to this metric. The data reflects pending claims at a given point in time and does not indicate whether protection was ultimately granted or denied. Countries with less developed asylum systems may undercount applicants or not report consistently. The 40.3 percent average year-over-year volatility suggests that figures can shift substantially between periods, making point-in-time comparisons sensitive to timing. The presence of 29 extreme outliers means the distribution is heavily skewed, so average values are not representative of the typical country. Reporting practices vary across destination countries, which affects how origin country totals are aggregated. The metric does not capture individuals who have not yet filed claims, those displaced internally, or those whose status has already been resolved.
Methodology
Rankings are based on the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SM.POP.ASYS.EO, for the data year 2024. The metric measures asylum-seekers by country or territory of origin as an absolute count. Per the source definition: asylum-seekers are individuals who have sought international protection and whose claims for refugee status have not yet been determined. This includes those who are in various stages of the asylum process, such as initial application, appeal, or awaiting final decision. In specific contexts, asylum-seekers may also include those who are seeking protection under complementary forms of protection. The dataset covers 203 countries, all of which meet the coverage threshold of 80. All 203 countries have data from within the last 7 years, and 100 percent of datapoints are classified as official quality against a 70 percent threshold. The latest year (2024) has data for 198 of 203 countries (97.5 percent). Viability checks identified 29 extreme outliers at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. Average year-over-year change is 40.3 percent, below the 50 percent volatility threshold. Values range from 0 to 1,360,041. Higher values indicate more individuals with pending asylum claims originating from that country.