19,845 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum in the EU in 2018

In 2018, 19,845 unaccompanied children applied for asylum in the EU, according to Eurostat. This figure is much lower than in the previous years, in 2017 31,400 children applied for asylum and 63,250 children in 2016. More than half of them came from one of these 6 countries; Afghanistan (16%), Eritrea (10%), Pakistan or Syria (both 7%) and Guinea or Iraq (6%).