"Through November the number of the applications accepted reached 32,295. Among 39,618 applications lodged this year, 23,561 have been accepted and 8,734 applications, which were lodged right after the 2015 application process ended, were added to the number," the statement said.
The ministry stressed that in line with the Dublin agreement, the country declined 9,755 applications in 2016, which is by 29 percent higher than in the previous year.
In 2015, Austria saw a threefold increase in the number of refugees coming to the country, with some 90,000 applications lodged for asylum. Vienna has put a cap of a maximum 37,500 asylum applications for 2016, with Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil warning that this limit would be reached by November.
