Overview of international protection in EU+ countries
The EUAA’s Asylum Report is the trusted source of information on international protection in Europe.
Reporting on the Common European Asylum System, it presents an overview of key developments each year, by summarising trends and noting changes to legislation, policies and practices at the EU and national levels.
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Read the Executive Summary
Asylum applications continue to decline
For the second year in a row, the number of asylum applications lodged in EU+ countries declined to 0.8 million.
Factors contributing to this decline included political developments in countries of origin like Syria and European cooperation with partner countries to reduce mobility across migration routes.
There was a significant 26% drop in irregular border-crossing detections compared to 2024. Nonetheless, with only a 1% decrease in detections, the Central Mediterranean route remained the most active, with arrivals continuing from Northern Africa.
Germany continued to receive the most applications (with 163,000 in 2025) although at far lower levels than in 2024. The decline was partly attributed to a sharp decrease in the number of applications lodged by Syrians (42,000), which shrunk by almost three-quarters following the fall of the Assad regime at the end of 2024. Nonetheless, the decline in first-time applications was partly counterbalanced by a significant increase in repeated asylum applications.
When considering asylum applications relative to population size, Greece and Cyprus were under the most pressure, with 5,900 and 4,500 applications per 1 million inhabitants, respectively.
Working towards a revamped European asylum system
Amid the notable decrease in applications for international protection, national authorities invested in the modernisation of the European asylum system, in line with the provisions of the Pact on Migration and Asylum.
Initiatives focused on increasing efficiency in asylum procedures, addressing pressure at external borders, reducing pending cases and increasing the effectiveness of returns of rejected applicants.
These efforts entailed legislative changes, building facilities, developing new workflows and guidance, and training staff on new procedures.
Drop in granting protection in Europe
The recognition rate for international protection decreased significantly from 42% in 2024 to 29% in 2025.
This was in part due to political shifts in Syria and the subsequent suspension of decision-making on asylum applications submitted by Syrians, who have accounted for a large share of positive decisions in recent years.
In addition, more than one-half (56%) of decisions were issued to nationals of countries with a low recognition rate (below 20%). Indeed the share of applications lodged by nationals of countries with low recognition rates has grown to account for over one-half of all applications. Under the Pact, this profile of applicants will be subject to the mandatory border procedure under certain circumstances.
Applicants from extreme- and high-conflict countries were granted protection most frequently. Thus the highest recognition rates, ranging from 70% to 90%, were seen for applicants from Sudan, Mali, Haiti, Ukraine and Myanmar/Burma.
Adoption of an EU list of safe countries of origin
Interactive data visualisation
Situational update (January 2026)
Asylum Report 2026, Section 1
The Asylum Report details the steps taken by EU institutions and EU+ countries since June 2024 to advance the practical implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum.
Member States have allocated significant financial, administrative and human resources to develop national implementation plans and prepare the road for enhanced procedures. For many countries, introducing the necessary arrangements for screening, which needed to be built from scratch, is the most common challenge, in addition to adapting technical capabilities to the new large IT systems to support the new Eurodac system.
Qualified personnel are key for effective implementation of the provisions of the Pact on the ground. It is necessary to keep investing in human resources, increasing expertise and enhancing skills through training and professional development.
Read the Executive Summary of the Asylum Report 2026 in the language of your choice!
