Malta : Europe’s asylum landscape underwent a series of significant shifts in the first half of 2025. By the end of June, EU+ countries received 399 000 asylum applications, a 23% decrease year-over-year. A two-thirds drop in Syrian applications meant that Germany was no longer the main receiving EU+ country, with both France and Spain receiving more applications. A majority of applications continued to be lodged by citizenships with low recognition rates in the EU+.
The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has just published its Mid-Year Review of the Latest Asylum Trends, paired with detailed analysis of the main citizenships seeking asylum and the key European countries receiving their applications. By the end of June 2025, EU+ countries received 399,000 asylum applications, a 23% decrease compared to the first half of 2024. This shift was driven by far fewer Syrians (25,000) applying, for whom the number of applications dropped by two thirds (- 66%). However, Venezuelans (49,000) applied in significant numbers, up by almost a third (+ 31%) year-over-year.
By the end of June, France (78,000) and Spain (77,000) both received more applications than Germany (70,000). They were followed by Italy (64 000) and Greece (27,000). Greece received the most applications per capita: 1 application for every 380 residents. Importantly, while the number of applications in France was stable, year-over-year, applications in Germany (- 43%), Italy (- 25%) and Spain (- 13%) all fell compared to the first half of 2024.
