Asylum Approval Rate by Country 2026

Worldwide displacement remains a serious issue and finds millions seeking safety and asylum in other nations every year. Experts look at several statistics when assessing a country’s average response to refugees and asylum seekers, but asylum approval rate is considered to be one of the most reliable.

Here’s a closer look at how asylum approval rates stack up around the world as of 2023, as well as a brief look at some additional factors that may influence one country’s approval rate as compared to another’s.

Countries with the Highest Asylum Approval Rates

Several different events and emergencies found people from all over the world fleeing in search of asylum. (One key example is the war in Ukraine.) The following are some of the world nations with the highest asylum approval rates.

Turkey

Turkey led the pack by quite a bit with a total of 322,188 asylum seekers approved for hosting. However, Turkey is also famous for consistently hosting the highest number of international refugees worldwide – approximately 3.6 million people – with many coming into the country from Syria.

Other Nations

Jordan hosted around 48,368 refugees and asylum seekers. Uganda and Pakistan also hosted quite a few with 23,126 and 10,192 respectively. Other countries that approved relatively high numbers of asylum seekers in relation to their populations include Lebanon, Germany, Iran, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh.

Factors That May Affect National Asylum Approval Rates

The contributing factors that might cause one country to have a higher asylum approval rate than another include examples like the following.

Established Resettlement Programs

Countries with dedicated, well-established resettlement programs are generally more likely to have higher approval rates, as they also have corresponding quotas. Examples of nations with such programs in place include but are not limited to Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the United States, Germany, and Italy.

Policy Shifts

Politics and governments play crucial roles in how statistics like asylum approval rates ultimately shake out. Leadership changes, changing national political ideologies, and various amendments to existing immigration policies are just a few examples of factors that can drastically shift a country’s approach to asylum seekers.

Security Concerns

Under circumstances that have a country’s people and leaders more concerned than usual for national security, asylum approval rates could shift as a result. This may or may not correlate to an asylum seeker’s country of origin.