EU records further decline in asylum applications in 2025

The number of applications for asylum recorded by EU authorities fell again last year - this time by an annual 20%, the agency responsible for tracking the process has reported, said dpa.

Preliminary data showed around 780,200 applications were registered in the 27 EU member states and partner countries Norway and Switzerland from the start of January to mid-December 2025, according to a non-public report by the European Commission.

The information, which was confidentially transmitted to EU states, was obtained by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper and made available to dpa.

This represents a drop of about one-fifth compared with the same period in 2024 and can be mainly attributed to the decline in asylum applications from people from Syria, the report said.

Since the fall of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Syrians are hoping for a better future, resulting in less migration abroad.

EU commissioner pleased with figures

Without giving specific figures, EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said 2025 had been a good year for European migration policy.