More than 800,000 asylum applications have been filed in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland this year up to October.

Compared to the same period in previous years, this is the highest figure since 2016, German newspaper Welt reported in its Tuesday edition, citing figures from the EU Asylum Agency EUAA.

According to the figures, exactly 801,459 asylum applications were filed in the 29 states between the beginning of the year and Oct. 3.

The largest increases were reported in Latvia, up 168 per cent, and Estonia which was up to 119 per cent.

This is explained by the strong increase in irregular migration from Belarus.

Germany came in third with a 74 per cent increase in the number of applications compared to the same period last year.

The largest decreases were reported in Denmark, down with 56 per cent, Malta, down with 54 per cent, Cyprus which was down 52 per cent and Austria, down with 41 per cent.

The country with the fewest asylum applications so far this year was Hungary, with only 26 applications.