Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
All
Publications
The European Union, Norway and Switzerland received nearly 66,000 asylum applications from unaccompanied minor migrants (those younger than 18 applying without a parent or guardian) in 2016, a decline of nearly 40% from 2015’s record total but still well above the total of prior years, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of data from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency.
In 2016, European Union countries, Norway and Switzerland received more than 1.2 million asylum applications, below the record 1.3 million applications received in 2015.
Learn more about a variety of factors driving the anti-establishment sentiments that are spreading throughout much of Europe.
A combination of strong anti-refugee sentiment and above-average disdain for minority groups sets Hungary apart from many of its fellow European Union nations.
Majorities or pluralities in 17 of 19 countries we surveyed have a positive view of the United Nations.
A median of 57% across the 11 NATO member countries surveyed voiced favorable views of the coalition, with only about a quarter (median of 27%) expressing negative opinions.
People in a number of other EU countries share the British desire for a less, not more, centralized Europe, and that the debate about the future of the EU will not subside just because the UK has now voted.
Nearly two-thirds of Britons say they want the EU to return certain powers to national governments. Only 6% want to transfer more powers to the Brussels-based institution.
There is significant opposition in key European countries to an ever closer EU.
In 2015, more than 1.8 million people crossed the European Union’s borders illegally, up from 280,000 detections of illegal border crossings in 2014.
