EuroWire, LUXEMBOURG: First-time asylum applications in the European Union fell 27% in 2025, marking a second straight annual decline as 669,400 non-EU citizens sought international protection for the first time, down from 912,400 in 2024, according to Eurostat. The figures showed a clear slowdown from the post-pandemic surge that had pushed annual applications above one million in 2023, while keeping asylum demand heavily concentrated in a small number of member states and among a limited group of nationalities.
Venezuelans became the largest group of first-time asylum applicants in the EU in 2025, filing 89,500 applications, or 13% of the total. Afghans ranked second with 63,800 applications, or 10%, while Syrians fell to third place with 40,000, or 6%. Eurostat said Syrians had been the leading nationality for first-time asylum applications every year from 2013 through 2024, making the 2025 shift a notable change in the EU asylum profile.
Spain received the highest number of first-time asylum applicants in 2025 with 141,000, equal to 21% of the EU total. Italy followed with 126,600 applications, ahead of France with 116,400, Germany with 113,200 and Greece with 55,400. Those five countries together accounted for 83% of all first-time applications filed in the EU last year. Relative to population, Greece recorded the highest rate with 5.3 first-time applicants per 1,000 residents, ahead of Cyprus and Spain at 2.9 each.
Nationality changes alter the annual ranking
The EU also received 21,125 first-time asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in 2025. Afghan children accounted for the largest share with 2,690 applications, followed by Eritreans with 2,345, Syrians with 2,330, Egyptians with 2,295 and Somalis with 2,290. Germany registered the most such applications at 4,925, followed by the Netherlands with 3,615, Spain with 3,210, Greece with 3,030 and Belgium with 1,615, underlining the continued pressure on a limited number of national asylum systems.
Monthly data pointed to the same downward direction by the end of the year. In December 2025, the EU recorded 47,650 first-time asylum applications, down 23% from December 2024 and 13% from November 2025. Venezuelans were again the largest group in that month with 6,675 applications, followed by Afghans, Bangladeshis and Syrians. Italy, Spain, France and Germany together received 72% of first-time applicants in December, showing that the annual concentration of cases remained in place at year-end.
Broader migration data show uneven pressure
Separate figures from the European Union Agency for Asylum showed that the broader EU+ area, which includes the EU as well as Norway and Switzerland, received about 822,000 asylum applications in 2025, down 19% from 2024. The agency said Syrian applications fell 72% across the EU+, while Afghan applications rose 33% and Venezuelan applications increased 23%. It also reported that the EU+ recognition rate dropped to 29% in 2025, the lowest annual level on record, while first-instance pending cases still stood at roughly 863,000.
Other EU data showed that the decline in asylum applications came alongside lower irregular arrivals but sustained protection needs. Frontex said detections of irregular border crossings at the EU’s external borders fell 26% in 2025 to almost 178,000, the lowest level since 2021. Eurostat separately reported that 4.38 million people who fled Ukraine remained under temporary protection in the EU at the end of January 2026. Eurostat said its annual asylum figures were rounded and that Spain’s 2025 data were provisional.