Migration and asylum in Europe – 2025 edition
Migration and asylum in Europe – 2025 edition provides key data and trends on migration and asylum. It looks at topics such as people migrating to the EU, within the EU and from the EU, legal residence, international protection, and irregular migration.
This publication allows you to explore, visualise and compare indicators on migration and asylum at EU and country level.
Population diversity
Learn more about the main destination countries of migrants, the reasons why non-EU citizens move to the EU, and the demography of nationals and non-nationals in the EU countries. This section presents statistics on immigration and emigration, citizenship, and residence permits for non-EU citizens.
In 2024, almost 10% of the people living in EU countries were non-nationals. 3.1% were citizens of another EU country and 6.4% of a non-EU country.
Migration to and from the EU
In 2023, 4.4 million came to the EU from non-EU countries. This is 18% less compared with 5.3 million in 2022.
In all EU countries except Luxembourg and Slovakia, the number of immigrants coming from outside the EU exceeded the number of immigrants coming from other EU countries in 2023. The largest shares were observed in Czechia and Lithuania (both 89% of all its immigrants), Ireland (87%), Slovenia and Italy (both 85%).
In absolute numbers, the most popular countries of destination for immigrants from outside the EU in 2023 were:
- Spain (1 million people or 24% of all immigrants who came to the EU from non-EU countries)
- Germany (925 000 or 21%)
- Italy (372 000 or 9%)
- France (308 000 or 7%)
- Poland (206 000 or 5%)
People who migrated to these 5 EU members represented 65% of all immigrants who entered the EU from non-EU countries in 2023.
In the same year, nearly 1.5 million people from the EU to a non-EU country, an increase of 25% compared to the 2022 value.
In 13 out of 27 EU countries, the number of emigrants who moved to a country outside the EU exceeded the number of emigrants who moved to another EU country in 2023. The largest share of people who emigrated to a non-EU country was recorded in Lithuania (75% of all its emigrants) and Slovenia (68%), while the lowest shares were observed in Luxembourg and Slovakia (both 20% of all its emigrants).
In absolute terms, the largest number of emigrants to a country outside the EU was recorded in:
- Spain (397 000 or 27% of all emigrants to a non-EU country)
- Germany (265 000 or 18%)
- France (130 000 or 9%)
- Romania (98 000 or 7%)
Emigrants from these 4 EU countries made up 60% of all emigrants leaving the EU in 2023.
At EU level, the difference between the number of immigrants and emigrants resulted in a positive net migration in 2023, meaning that almost 3 million more people moved to the EU than moved out.
Free movement of people in the EU
EU citizens have the right to free movement in the EU and to establish their residence in any EU country. In 2023, 1.5 million people moved from one EU country to another. This represents a slight decrease of 2% compared with 2022.
In 2023, Germany was the country with the largest number of immigrants from other EU members (334 000 or 22% of all immigrants from other EU countries), followed by Spain (209 000 or 14%), Romania (127 000 or 8%), the Netherlands (113 000 or 7%) and France (110 000 or 7%).
In relative terms, Luxembourg recorded the largest share of immigrants coming from another EU country (86% of all its immigrants in 2023), followed by Slovakia (57%), Austria (48%) and Belgium (47%).
Citizenships in the EU
In 2024, whilst most people in the EU lived in their country of citizenship, almost 10% (43 million) of the EU population were citizens of another country than their country of residence. 3.1% (14 million) were citizens of another EU country and 6.4% (29 million) of a non-EU country. Additionally, the EU population included 58 000 stateless people and 84 000 who were of unknown citizenship.
Luxembourg topped the list of countries with the highest share of non-nationals in their population (47%), ahead of Malta (28%), Cyprus (24%), Austria (19%) and Estonia (18%).
In contrast, non-nationals represented around 1% of the population in and Romania.
Looking specifically at citizens from other EU members, the largest share was recorded in Luxembourg (37%), followed by Cyprus and Austria (both 10%). The proportion of citizens from outside the EU was largest in Malta (20%), and Cyprus (14%).
Non-nationals are younger than nationals in the EU
On 1 January 2024, people who were non-nationals were younger than the national population in the EU.
The distribution by age group shows that, compared with nationals, the non-national population has a greater proportion of relatively young working age adults aged 20 to 49. This is the case for both men and women:
- men aged 20 to 49 accounted for 29% of the non-national population, compared with 18% of the national population;
- women aged 20 to 49 accounted for 27% of the non-national population, compared with 17% of the national population.
In contrast, the shares of people who are over 50 years were smaller for non-nationals than nationals:
- men aged over 50 accounted for 12% of the non-national population, compared with 19% for nationals;
- women aged over 50 accounted for 13% of the non-national population, compared with 24% of the national population.
Residence permits
People from abroad move to the EU for different reasons, for example to work, to join their family, or to study. Non-EU citizens can stay in the EU if they obtain a .
In 2024, all the EU countries issued 3.5 million to non-EU citizens. This is a decrease of 8% compared with 2023.
Spain granted the highest number of permits (562 000 or 16% of total permits issued in the EU), followed by Germany (545 000 or 16%), Poland (489 000 or 14%), Italy (346 000 or 10%) and France (342 000 or 10%).
Most of the first-residence permits were granted to citizens of Ukraine (295 000 or 8% of all permits), India (192 000 or 5%), Morocco (188 000 or 5%) and Syria (186 000 or 5%).
Work was the main reason for residence permits in 2024
The reasons for granting these residence permits in 2024 were:
- work: 1.1 million or 32% of all first residence permits issued
- family reasons: 950 000 or 27%
- education: 549 000 or 16%
The remaining 25% of residence permits (886 000) were granted for other reasons such as international protection.
The situation varied across the EU. In 2024, the share of permits issued for work reasons was largest in Croatia (95% of all first residence permits granted), ahead of Lithuania (82%) and Romania (77%). Family was the main reason in Luxembourg (52%), Sweden (49%), Spain and Belgium (both 46%), while education had the biggest share in Ireland (48%), France (33%) and Latvia (32%). The share of other reasons was highest in Greece (55%).
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Protection and asylum
There are many reasons why people migrate, including seeking protection from conflict, persecution, and human rights violations. This section presents statistics on asylum seekers, including children, and the different forms of protection given by the EU countries.
In 2024, the EU countries granted protection status to 438 000 asylum seekers, up by 7% compared with 2023 (410 000).
Asylum applicants
In 2024, almost 913 000 people applied for in the EU countries for the a decrease of 13% compared with 2023. Over the past 10 years, the number of asylum seekers peaked in 2015 and 2016 during the war in Syria (1.2 million), then fell to less than 0.5 million in 2020, followed by 3 years of growth.
The EU countries that received the highest number of first-time applications in 2024 were:
- Germany (230 000 or 25% of all first-time asylum applications in the EU)
- Spain (165 000 or 18%)
- Italy (151 000 or 17%)
- France (130 000 or 14%)
These 4 EU countries together accounted for 74% of all first-time asylum applications in the EU.
Compared with the population of each EU country, the highest rate of first-time applicants in 2024 was recorded in Cyprus and Greece (both 7 first-time applicants per 1 000 people), while it was the lowest in Hungary and Slovakia (both 0 per 1 000 people).
Syrians, Venezuelans and Afghans lodged the most asylum applications in the EU
In 2024, 41% of the first-time asylum applicants had Asian citizenship, 26% African citizenship, 12% European citizenship (non-EU) and 19% had North or South American citizenship. The remaining 2% corresponded to Oceania, unknown and stateless categories.
Syria was the main country of citizenship of asylum seekers (148 000 first-time applications or 16% of all first-time applications in the EU), ahead of Venezuela and Afghanistan (both 73 000 or 8%).
Asylum decisions
In 2024, around 941 000 on asylum applications were taken by the EU countries. Of these, 754 000 decisions were taken at and 187 000 were final decisions taken upon appeal or review of first instance decisions.
Looking at first instance decisions taken by the EU countries, 22% or 165 000 granted refugee status, 21% or 156 000 subsidiary protection, and 9% or 67 000 humanitarian protection.
Among asylum applicants who received at first instance in the EU, 34% were Syrians, followed by Afghans (17%) and Venezuelans (9%).
Looking at final decisions, 11% or 21 000 granted refugee status, 8% or 14 000 subsidiary protection and 8% or 15 000 humanitarian protection.
The main beneficiaries of protection status for final decisions were Syrians (17% of all asylum applicants granted protection status by final decisions in the EU), followed by Afghans (10%) and Bangladeshis (7%).
In 2024, over 50% of first instance decisions granted protection status
To better understand who is granted in the EU, the recognition rate can be used. This rate represents the number of positive decisions as a percentage of the total number of decisions on applications for protection status.
In 2024, at EU level, the recognition rate for first instance decisions stood at 51%, meaning that there were 388 000 positive decisions out of 754 000 total decisions.
Among the EU countries with the number of total first instance decisions equal or higher than 30, the rate was highest in Estonia (96%), Poland (82%) and the Netherlands (75%), while it was lowest in Portugal (1%), Croatia and Czechia (both 21%).
As regards final decisions following an appeal or review, the recognition rate was 27%, representing 50 000 positive decisions out of 187 000.
Among the EU countries with the number of total final decisions equal or higher than 30, Italy recorded the highest recognition rate following appeal or review (85%), followed by the Netherlands (66%) and Austria (54%). At the opposite end of the scale, it was lowest in Portugal (no positive final decisions were issued), and in Cyprus and Poland (both 1%).
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Temporary protection
Temporary protection is an exceptional measure to provide immediate and temporary protection to displaced people from non-EU countries and those who are unable to return to their country of origin.
Since Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine started in February 2022, the EU countries have granted temporary protection to people fleeing Ukraine.
By 31 December 2024, nearly 4.3 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine had benefited from temporary protection status in the EU, with 98% holding Ukrainian citizenship.
The main EU countries where people fleeing Ukraine stayed at the end of 2024 were Germany (1.2 million or 27% of the total) and Poland (992 000 or 23%).
Compared with the population of each EU country, the highest number of temporary protection beneficiaries at the end of 2024 was recorded in Czechia (35.7 beneficiaries per 1 000 people), followed by Poland (27.1), Estonia (25.8) and Latvia (25.6). In contrast, the lowest numbers were observed in France (0.9 per 1 000 people), Italy (2.8) and Greece (3.1). At EU level, there were 9.5 beneficiaries of temporary protection for every 1 000 people.
Children under international protection
In 2024, 235 000 first-time asylum applicants were less than 18 years old, accounting for 26% of all first-time applicants in the EU. Of these, around 35 000 or 15% were
Most of the first-time asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in 2024 were lodged either by Syrians (12 000 people or 34% of all unaccompanied minor asylum applicants) or Afghans (6 000 or 17%).
The EU country that received the highest number of first-time asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in 2024 was Germany (13 000), followed by Greece (5 000) and the Netherlands (4 000).
The proportion of first-time asylum applications from unaccompanied minors among all applicants under the age of 18 was highest in Bulgaria (65%), Slovenia (56%), and the Netherlands (50%).
83% of first instance decisions on applications of unaccompanied minors were favourable
In 2024, the EU countries took 17 300 on asylum applications from unaccompanied minors. Of these, 14 400 or 83% were positive, meaning that they granted a . Thus, the for unaccompanied minors at first instance was higher than the overall recognition rate (51%).
Across the EU countries, Germany issued the most positive decisions on applications from unaccompanied minors (7 000 or 49% of the EU total), followed by the Netherlands (2 500 or 17%), Greece and Italy (both 1 000 or 7%).
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Irregular migration and return
Irregular migration is when non-EU citizens attempt to enter or stay in the EU territory without complying with the legal requirements. This section presents data on people who were refused entry to the EU, who are illegally present in the EU, and people who were returned.
In 2024, 124 000 non-EU citizens were refused entry into the EU, 919 000 were found to be illegally present, 453 000 were ordered to leave an EU country and 110 000 were returned to a country outside the EU.
Irregular migration
In 2024, 124 000 non-EU citizens were refused entry into the EU at one of its , almost the same number as in 2023. Of these, 57% were stopped at external land borders, 40% at air borders and 3% at sea borders.
The main grounds for refusing entry to the EU were either that the purpose and conditions of stay were not justified (24%) or that the people refused entry did not have a valid visa or residence permit (19% of all refusals).
The situation varied across the EU countries. Some EU members do not have external EU borders, as they are either landlocked or only have an internal land border within the .
In 2024, Poland reported the largest number of refusals (21 000 or 17% of the EU total), ahead of Croatia (14 000 or 11%), France and Romania (both 10 000 or 8%). Most of the refusals at land borders were recorded in Poland, at sea borders in Italy and at air borders in France.
Ukrainians accounted for the largest number of people refused entry to the EU in 2024 (20 000 people), followed by citizens from Albania (14 000) and Moldova (12 000).
In 2024, 919 000 non-EU citizens were found to be illegally present in the EU. This is a decrease of 27% compared with 2023. Among the EU countries, the largest number of illegally present people was found in Germany (249 000 or 27% of the EU total), France (142 000 or 15%) and Italy (109 000 or 12%).
Syrians were the biggest group of people found to be illegally present in the EU (140 000 people), ahead of Afghans (60 000) and Algerians (58 000).
Orders to leave and returns
In 2024, a total of 453 000 non-EU citizens received an order to leave the EU country they were staying in, down by 8% compared with 2023. Among the EU countries, France issued the most return decisions (128 000 or 28% of all orders to leave issued in the EU), followed by Germany (57 000 or 13%) and Spain (51 000 or 11%).
Algerians (37 000) were the largest group of non-EU citizens ordered to leave the territory of an EU country, followed by Moroccans (32 000) and Syrians (27 000).
In 2024, the number of people returned to a country outside the EU increased by 19%
In 2024, 110 000 non-EU citizens were returned outside the EU, following an order to leave the territory of a specific EU country. This is an increase of 19% compared with 2023.
The highest number of returns to a country outside the EU were recorded in Germany (15 200 or 14% of all returns to non-EU countries), France (14 700 or 13%), Sweden (9 900 or 9%) and Cyprus (8 900 or 8%).
The biggest groups of people returned to a country outside the EU were Georgians (11 600), Turks and Albanians (both 7 900).
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Skills of migrants
This section presents statistics on various types of authorisations, in addition to the residence permits described earlier, that allow non-EU citizens to study and work in the EU countries: the EU Blue Cards, authorisations for study and research, and intra-corporate transfers.
The EU countries issued 78 000 Blue Cards, 475 000 permits to study and research and 10 000 intra-corporate transfer permits to non-EU citizens in 2024.
Attracting skills and talent
EU Blue Card for highly qualified workers
The EU Blue Card is a work and residence permit for from outside the EU.
In 2024, around 78 100 highly qualified non-EU workers received an EU Blue Card. Germany issued the largest number (56 300 or 72% of all EU Blue Cards), followed by Poland (5 900 or 7%), Hungary (2 900 or 4%) and France (2 800 or 4%).
Citizens of India were granted the most EU Blue Cards in 2024 (16 300 or 21% of all Blue Cards issued in the EU), ahead of citizens of Russia (6 700 or 9%), Türkiye (5 600 or 7%) and China (4 600 or 6%).
Permits for researchers and students
Non-EU citizens can also stay in the EU to study and do research. In total, in 2024, the EU countries issued 475 000 authorisations for study and research. Germany issued most authorisations (131 000 or 28% of all permits in the EU), followed by France (118 000 or 25%) and Spain (59 000 or 12%).
The main recipients were citizens from India (53 000 or 11% of all permits in the EU), China (44 000 or 9%), Morocco (23 000 or 5%) and the United States (22 000 or 5%).
Intra-corporate transfers of staff
Non-EU citizens can also apply for a so-called intra-corporate transfer residence permit to work in the EU. This means they can be posted from a company operating outside the EU to a branch in one of the EU countries.
In 2024, the EU members issued in total 10 200 transfer permits, with the largest numbers in the Netherlands (2 400 or 23% of all permits), Hungary (2 000 or 19%), France (1 800 or 17%) and Germany (1 600 or 15%).
Most of these permits were given to citizens from India (3 300 or 33% of all permits), China (2 200 or 21%) and South Korea (800 or 8%).
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About this publication
Migration and asylum in Europe is an interactive publication released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Information on data
The data displayed in the visualisations come directly from the Eurostat online database for the reference year(s) mentioned in the visualisation. The accompanying text is from December 2025 and reflects the data situation at that moment in time.
Users who want more information about metadata should click on the links (‘access to dataset’) that are provided as part of the source under each visualisation. Once the database opens, there is an icon in the top-right corner that provides ‘explanatory texts’ for metadata.
The data presented in this publication are complemented by additional codes (flags) that are used to explain and define specific characteristics of data. The full set of flags is available on Eurostat’s website via the link to the dataset provided below each visualisation.
The release and update dates for all statistical indicators are published on the Eurostat release calendar.
For more information
- Thematic section on migration and asylum
- Database on international migration, asylum, managed migration, children in migration and migrant integration
- Statistics Explained articles on migration and asylum
Contact
If you have questions on the data, please contact the Eurostat user support.
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© European Union, 2025
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Population diversity: © fizkes/Shutterstock.com
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Irregular migration and return: © triple_v/Shutterstock.com
Skills of migrants: © Atitaph_StockPHoTo/Shutterstock.com
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Identifiers
Catalogue number: KS-01-25-056-EN-Q
ISBN 978-92-68-33747-9
ISSN 2600-3368
doi:10.2785/0089727
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