But the 22,200 Iraqi asylum seekers in 2006 were well below the peak level of about 50,000 in 2002, the year before the U.S.-led invasion.
The UNHCR said the total number of people seeking asylum in industrialized countries dropped by 10 percent last year, marking a 20-year low.
Iraqis made up the largest group, followed by asylum seekers from China, Russia, and Serbia and Montenegro.
(Reuters, AFP)