The number of people claiming asylum fell 27.9 per cent to 1,939 last year, marking the eight successive year that claims for refugee status in Ireland have decreased.
Figures published today by the Department of Justice show a fifth of all asylum claims were made by Nigerians. Chinese and Pakistanis were the second and third highest asylum applicants, accounting for 11.8 per cent and 10.3 per cent of all applications.
Some 65 per cent of the asylum applicants were men while 35 per cent were women, which broadly followed previous years claims.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said the sharp fall in asylum claims reflected the successful strategies aimed at combating abuses of the system. He said streamlining of processing arrangements in the asylum area was also having an impact.
Asylum claims peaked in 2002 when there were 11,634 applications. Since then the numbers of people claiming asylum in the Republic have fallen every year.
The Government deported 247 people to non-EU countries last year, which represents a 4 per cent increase in the number of deportation orders effected compared to 2009. However, the Government managed to effect just 30 per cent of the deportation orders signed by the minister in 2010.
Some 142 people were transferred to other EU states to have their asylum claims heard in the first European country that they make a claim. An additional 183 failed asylum seekers, who would otherwise have been removed from the State by the authorities through deportation, agreed to voluntarily return to their homes.
"I welcome the progress that continues to be made in the processing of asylum applications, particularly in light of the considerable challenge involved in this regard down the years," said Mr Ahern.
"The reduction in asylum applications in Ireland is a reflection of the ongoing work within the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service including the asylum agencies to combat abuse while at the same time ensuring fairness and improving the effectiveness and efficiency of procedures in this area," he said.