Brussels, 24 September 2023 (dpa/MIA) - European Union states received 25% more asylum applications in June 2023 compared with June 2022, the EU's statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday.

In June, 83,385 people applied for international protection in one of the bloc's 27 member states.

The figure is however lower than in autumn 2022, when around 100,000 monthly applications were filed in the EU, according to Eurostat data.

In line with previous months, Syrians were the largest group of people seeking protection in the EU in June 2023, followed by Afghans, Venezuelans and Colombians.

Germany, Spain, France and Italy together received around 75% of all asylum applications in June 2023.

Compared to the population of each EU country, Cyprus received the highest rate of applicants, followed by Austria, Eurostat said.