Germany registered 964,574 new asylum seekers in the first 11 months of the year, putting Europe’s top economy on track for a million arrivals in 2015, official figures have shown.
Some 206,101 migrants entered the country in November alone, a new monthly record, up from a previous high of 181,166 in October, according to the interior ministry.
The number of arrivals for the year so far was more than four times the total for all of 2014 with Germany now the top European destination for people fleeing conflict, repression and misery in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The data did not provide a breakdown of the nationalities of the new arrivals.
The UN refugee agency last week described a similar trend, saying the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe had fallen by more than a third in November.
Throughout the month, an estimated 140,000 people made the perilous sea journey, reflecting a 36% drop from October when a record 220,535 landed on Europe’s shores, UNHCR said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to welcome Syrian refugees has won her praise but also sparked a backlash, with some senior ministers openly questioning the approach and her usually-high poll ratings slipping several points.
The interior ministry, meanwhile, has faced withering criticism over its handling of the influx of asylum seekers and a backlog at the federal office for migration and refugees.