<P> Meanwhile, due to improved weather conditions, the number of mainly African migrants crossing the sea to Italy doubled between February and March, reaching nearly 9,600 in March 2016, compared to 2,283 in March 2015 . In April, on the contrary, the number of migrants arriving in Italy (8,370) dropped by 13% compared to the previous month and by 50% compared to the same month in 2015; despite this, Italy exceeded the totals for Greece for the first time since June 2015 . On 16 April, a shipwreck of a large boat between Libya and Italy was reported, in which as many as 500 people may have died, in one of the worst disasters since April 2015 . More than 66,000 mostly African migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of 2016 . </P> <P> The mass influx of migrants into Europe was not seen favorably in many European Union countries . Many citizens disapproved of the EU's handling of the migrant crisis, with 94% of Greeks and 88% of Swedes disapproving of the measures taken, among other countries with similar disapproval rates . This contributed to the creation and implementation of the EU - Turkey Refugee Agreement, which was signed in March 2016 . From that point on, the numbers of refugees entering Greece decreased . In February 2016, the last full month before the deal, 57,066 migrants arrived in Greece via the sea; from that point on, discounting March, the highest number of migrants reaching Greece via the sea was 3,650 (in April). While there is no direct connection to the implementation of the Eu - Turkey deal, the number of migrants arriving in Italy in that same time period has increased . From March 2016 to October 2016, 140,358 migrants have arrived in Italy via the sea, which averages out to roughly 20,051 migrants per month . Overall the number of migrants arriving into the EU has dropped, but the EU still is creating agencies and plans to mitigate the crisis . In addition to the EU - Turkey Refugee Agreement, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency was launched on October 6, 2016 . </P> <P> Data from the United Nations' migration agency showed that the number of migrants who entered Europe in the first half of 2017 was 35% of the number from the first half of 2016 . The agency said 73,189 migrants entered Europe by sea through June 11, 2017 . Of those, 85% landed in Italy while the rest disembarked in Greece, Cyprus and Spain . </P> <Table> Asylum applicants by year and by sex <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Source Eurostat: EU 27; EU28 . </Td> </Tr> Asylum applicants by sex <Tr> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Source Eurostat </Td> </Tr> </Table>

How many refugees are there in europe 2017