The decline can be attributed to a dwindling number of applications from Afghan, Turkish and Syrian nationals.
Persons traveling alone who claimed to be minors and applied in the country totaled 2,639, a figure equivalent to 12.4% of all asylum applications (17.9% in 2023), the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said.
In the year under review, the majority of unaccompanied minors came from Afghanistan (1,295; 49%), a figure that equates to a 53% decrease compared to 2023 (2,774), the note points out. From Somalia came 217, Algeria 214, Morocco 202 and Guinea 111.
The most represented age group was between 16 and 17 (76.2%), while unaccompanied minors aged 13 to 15 were significantly fewer (22.2%). Those between the ages of 8 and 12, on the other hand, were only 1.4%. Almost all of them were male (95.2%), SEM points out.
The data refer to the age declared by the applicants themselves when they entered a federal asylum centre. Audits conducted in the past, however, have revealed that about a quarter of young asylum seekers are clearly over the age of 18.
In the year under review, the actual number of asylum applications filed could therefore undergo a sharp downward adjustment as well, said SEM.