> The US remained the largest asylum recipient in 2010 (estimated 55,500 claims). France was second with 47,800 in 2010. Germany was third, followed by Sweden and Canada. These top five countries of asylum accounted for more than half (56 per cent)of all asylum applications.

> The UK was the sixth largest recipient of new asylum-seekers in 2010 with 22,100 claims. This was the lowest level since 1989 and down 28% compared to 2009 > In terms of places of origin, the largest group of asylum-seekers in industrialized countries in 2010 were from Serbia (28,900, including Kosovo). Afghanistan slid to second place with 24,800 claims. Chinese asylum-seekers were the third-largest with 21,600 claims. Iraq dropped to fourth place with 20,100 asylum applications, followed by the Russian Federation (18,900).

> The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, noted “We need to study the root causes to see if the decline is because of fewer push factors in areas of origin, or tighter migration control in countries of asylum.