By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Some 19,800 Iraqis fleeing violence and persecution applied for asylum in the West in the first half of 2007, accounting for one of every seven claims filed during the period, the United Nations said on Friday.

The number of Iraqis seeking asylum in 36 industrialised countries rose 45 percent over the previous six months, and is already approaching last year's total of 22,200.

"Iraqis were the number one nationality applying for asylum in industrialised countries in the first half of the year," Ron Redmond, spokesman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing.

"If this trend is maintained, by the end of the year the number of Iraqi asylum seekers might reach over 40,000, the highest number since 2002," he said.

The figure reflected massive upheaval within Iraq, where an intensifying sectarian divide was fuelling violence "without a political solution in sight", the Geneva-based agency said in its latest report.

Almost half of the 19,800 Iraqi applications, some 9,300, were submitted in Sweden. "The large Iraqi community in that country and its strong social network might account for the high number of Iraqis going there," Redmond said.

Greece, Spain and Germany were other preferred destinations.

Chinese asylum seekers were the second-largest group during the first six months of 2007, accounting for 8,600 applications, more than half filed in the United States, the UNHCR said.

Pakistanis were the third-largest group with 7,300 claims.

In all, some 147,500 applications were filed by asylum seekers in industrialised countries during the period.

The United States was by far the largest recipient of new asylum claims during the first half of 2007, with an estimated 26,800 applications, followed by Sweden at 17,700 applications.

Greece was the third most important destination for asylum seekers, with a record high 14,700 applications, followed by France with 14,000, Britain with 12,700, and Canada with 11,400.

Asylum claims have been falling in recent years, in part because of conflicts ending in West Africa and millions of Afghans returning to their homeland, as well as tighter asylum policies in the West, according to the UNHCR. "Assuming that current patterns remain unchanged, it can be expected that the total number of asylum claims lodged in industrialised countries in 2007 might be between 290,000 and 320,000, which would be the first increase since 2001," Redmond said. There were 284,800 claims filed in 2006.

Of the 36 industrialised countries covered in UNHCR's statistics, 31 are in Europe. Others are Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States.

Within European countries, some 107,000 asylum applications were filed in the first six months of 2007, 10 percent more than during the same period of 2006, UNHCR said.

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