More asylum applications were filed in Germany in 2021 than at any time in the past 4 years, according to figures published on Wednesday.

Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) said that, in 2021, 190,800 asylum applications were submitted.

It's the highest number since 2017, when more than 222,600 people applied.

How significant is the figure?

Since 2017, the number had fallen to 165,938 by 2019, with only about 122,000 asylum applications in 2020.

However, in releasing the figures, the German Interior Ministry — which runs BAMF and compiled the figures — pointed out that any comparison with 2020 was not very meaningful. This was due to the impact of travel restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Some 148,000 applicants were foreigners applying for asylum in Germany for the first time.

About 17.5% of those applications were submitted for children born in Germany under the age of one.

Where are the applicants from?

The biggest national group of people applying for asylum came from Syria — more than 70,000 people — as has been the case for several years, as the civil war there continues to rumble on.

The number of people from Afghanistan who applied for asylum has risen in the wake of the Taliban takeover, with more than 31,000 Afghans applying in 2021.

Former local staff serving the Bundeswehr and other German institutions in Afghanistan, as well as their families, did not have to apply as they had received advance acceptance. This was also true of human rights activists and others who were promised admission by German authorities based on activities that could see them persecuted by the Taliban.

Statistics showed a significant rise in the number of people applying from North Macedonia, although the number from neighboring Kosovo was down.

The Interior Ministry attributed an increase in delayed asylum decisions to the complication of secondary migration within the EU and the changed situation in Afghanistan from August.

Germany also saw more than 11,000 migrants enter the country via Belarus and Poland in 2021, although the figure was trending downward by the end of the year.

rc/rt (dpa, KNA)