EU asylum claims fall 23% in the first half of 2025
Rome (dpa) – The number of new asylum applications in the European Union, Norway and Switzerland dropped sharply in the first half of 2025, EU data showed on Monday, with Germany losing its long-held top spot as the main destination.
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), based in Malta, said 399,000 new applications were lodged between January and June, down 114,000, or 23 percent, from the same period in 2024. The total includes applications across all EU member states plus Norway and Switzerland.
France led with 78,000 applications, followed by Spain with 77,000, Germany with 70,000 and Italy with 64,000. For the first time in years, Germany was not the largest recipient.
The EUAA attributed much of the decline to the fall of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in December, which reduced the number of Syrians seeking protection. Instead, Venezuelans became the largest group of new applicants with 49,000 cases, ahead of Afghans (42,000) and Syrians (25,000). Nearly all Venezuelans filed in Spain, where the shared language eases integration.
Applications fell across most large host countries except France, with Germany seeing the sharpest decline (-43 percent), followed by Italy (-25 percent) and Spain (-13 percent).
Only one in four first-time applications was approved, the lowest recognition rate ever recorded. Backlogs remain heavy: More than 900,000 first-instance cases were pending at the end of June, and with appeals still possible, roughly 1.3 million decisions are still outstanding.
Migration management remains one of Europe’s most divisive political issues. The EU has stepped up cooperation with North African countries to curb irregular crossings of the Mediterranean, where deadly accidents continue. (8 September)
