The number of asylum applications increased by 34 percent in the last quarter, but the number of departures is rising too, new figures show.

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The Federal Office for Migration published its second quarter figures on Wednesday, which showed that the number of asylum applicants has continued to grow. At the same time, the number of people leaving Switzerland has risen by 43 percent.

Some 7,250 applications were received in the second quarter. This represents an increase of 1.8 percent on the first quarter and a rise of 34 percent on figures from last year.

The largest number of applications came from Eritreans, with1,275 people from the north-east African country seeking asylum in the last quarter. Nigerians and Tunisians were next, with 674 and 611 applications respectively. Many of these people have been moved on from countries like Italy which have been unable to take in large numbers of asylum seekers due to the poor economic climate.

Some 876 people were recorded as coming from Eastern Europe, with the majority made up of Roma people.

Despite the troubles in Syria, the Federal Office for Migration recorded a decrease in the number of requests from the Middle Eastern country. 

Almost 3,390 people were recorded as leaving the country, with some 1,178 moving to another country covered by the Dublin Regulation, a rule stipulating that an application must be processed in the asylum seeker's first point of entry in Europe.