A person handing a passport over the approved asylum application form.

In 2025, 669 400 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, a decrease of 27% compared with 2024 (912 400).

This information comes from data on asylum applicants published by Eurostat today. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article. 

First-time asylum applicants in EU countries, 2008-2025 (absolute numbers). Chart. See link to the full dataset below.

Source dataset: migr_asyappctza

Venezuelan, Afghan and Syrian – main citizenships of first-time applicants

In 2025, Venezuelans submitted 89 500 first-time asylum applications, making Venezuela the main country of origin for asylum seekers in the EU, with 13% of all applications. Afghanistan followed with 63 800 applications (10%). Syrians came in third with 40 000 applications (6%), having previously led in asylum applications from 2013 to 2024. 

Origin of first-time asylum applicants in the EU, 2025 (by continents and top 5 countries of citizenship). Chart. See link to the full dataset below

Source dataset: migr_asyappctza

21% of EU asylum applications were made in Spain

Spain received the highest number of first-time asylum applicants in 2025, with 141 000 (21% of the EU total). It was followed by Italy (126 600, 19%), France (116 400, 17%), Germany (113 200, 17%) and Greece (55 400, 8%). These 5 countries together accounted for 83% of all first-time asylum applicants in the EU last year.

Highest number of first-time asylum applicants relative to the population in Greece

In 2025, there were 1.5 first-time asylum applicants per 1 000 people in the EU. Greece recorded the highest rate of first-time asylum applicants, with 5.3 applicants per 1 000 people. Cyprus and Spain followed with 2.9 applicants each, ahead of Luxembourg with 2.6 and Ireland with 2.4.

13% of unaccompanied minors were from Afghanistan

In 2025, the EU received 21 125 asylum applications from unaccompanied minors, with 13% coming from Afghanistan (2 690), followed by Eritrea (2 345), Syria (2 330), Egypt (2 295) and Somalia (2 290), each with 11% of applications. 

Germany received the highest number of such applications (4 925, 23%), followed by the Netherlands (3 615, 17%), Spain (3 210, 15%), Greece (3 030, 14%) and Belgium (1 615, 8%).

For more information

Methodological notes

  • An application for international protection, as defined in the Article 2(h) of Directive 2011/95/EU, includes requests for refugee or subsidiary protection status. These applications can be made at the border or from within the country, regardless of whether the entry was legal, such as for tourism, or illegal.
  • A first-time asylum applicant/seeker refers to a person lodging an application for international protection for the first time. This includes those subject to the Dublin procedure if they are applying for asylum for the first time in the reporting country. 
  • An unaccompanied minor is defined as a person under the age of 18 arriving in the EU without an accompanying adult responsible for them, and the status refers to them as long as they are not effectively taken into care by such a person. This includes minors who become unaccompanied after entering in the EU.
  • The data in this news article are rounded to the nearest 100, except for figures concerning unaccompanied minors, which are rounded to the nearest 5. 
  • Spain’s data for 2025 are provisional.
  • Data on unaccompanied minors for Poland in 2025 are unavailable. As a result, EU totals are calculated without Poland.

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