The number of people claiming asylum in Germany fell to 222,560 last year, according to European Union figures. The data could provide some relief for Chancellor Angela Merkel as she fights to save her coalition.

The EU's asylum office received 728,470 applications in 2017 compared to 1.3 million applications in 2016. The office also received 108,020 applications from Syria in 2017, a number that had decreased by 68.4 percent from 2016.

Italy, France, Greece and the United Kingdom followed Germany among destinations for asylum seekers in the EU.