In 2018, 19 700 asylum seekers applying for international protection in the Member States of the European Union (EU) were considered to be unaccompanied minors. This is down by more than one third compared with 2017 (31 400) and below the 2014 level (23 100), when the first increase was observed after remaining at a relatively constant level of around 12 000 per year between 2008 and 2013. In 2018, at the EU level, unaccompanied minors accounted for 10% of all asylum applicants aged less than 18.