COPENHAGEN, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- A total of 6,235 people applied for asylum in Denmark in 2016, registering a sharp drop from the previous year when the country received 21,000 asylum seekers, Danish news agency Ritzau reported Monday citing Statistics Denmark.
Given the large influx in 2015, the Danish government anticipated 25,000 asylum seekers at the beginning of 2016. However, that figure was later revised down to 7,500.
Most of the asylum seekers were from Syria, the report said.
Ritzau said several factors might have contributed to the dropping of asylum seekers, among them the border control put in place by the Danish government on Jan. 4, 2016.
The move came on the same day when bordering Sweden started implementing border controls, requiring all trains, buses and ferries on the Danish side to check passengers' photo identification before allowing them to travel from Denmark to Sweden.
The border control has since been extended several times, most recently until May 12 this year.
Among other things, the previously widely used Balkan route, which many refugees traveled through, was closed, according to Ritzau.
