Europe has had to respond to the most severe migratory challenge since World War II. In 2015, 1.25 million first-time asylum applicants were registered in the EU; by 2019, this figure had dropped to 612,700 applicants. In 2019, more than 120,000 people reached Europe by sea, compared to more than one million in 2015. In 2019, the total number of illegal border-crossings into the EU dropped to 141,700, its lowest level in six years and 92% below the peak of the migratory crisis in 2015.