Italy received 62,484 applications for asylum in the first six months of the year according to figures released by the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) on Tuesday, Azernews reports, citing ANSA.

This is around 12% of all asylum applications lodged across the EU and Norway and Switzerland (EU+).

The main countries of origin of applicants in Italy were Bangladesh, Egypt and Pakistan.

In total in the first half 2023, some 519,000 applications for asylum were lodged in the EU+, up by 28% compared to the same period in 2022.

This was the highest level for this time of year since the Syrian refugee crisis of 2015-2016.

Germany received the most applications in the first half of 2023, at 154,677, or around 30% of the total, followed by Spain (86,786, 17%) and France (81,158, 16%).

At the end of June 2023, the number of asylum cases awaiting first instance decisions reached 682,000.

"On the basis of current trends the number of applications could exceed a million by the end of the year," said EUAA.