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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
George Arnett

Sweden - the OECD's highest per capita recipient of asylum seekers

The top three countries from which asylum seekers came to Sweden in 2013 were Syria, Eritrea and Somalia.
The top three countries from which asylum seekers came to Sweden in 2013 were Syria, Eritrea and Somalia. Photograph: allOver photography / Alamy/Alamy

The war in Syria is one of the main drivers of a 20% year-on-year rise in asylum seeking to OECD countries, according to a new report.

The latest Migration Outlook report says that 556,000 people sought asylum within the OECD in 2013. Germany received almost a fifth of the total number (109,580).

However, when the figures are adjusted on a per capita basis then Sweden takes a clear lead. It received 5,700 asylum seekers for every million residents of the country. This is more than twice as many as any other country in the OECD.

The most likely countries for asylum seekers to Sweden to come from were Eritrea, Somalia and, of course, Syria.

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