(de-news.net) – Asylum applications in the EU, Switzerland, and Norway in 2025 dropped to their lowest first-half level since 2021. In parallel, Frontex reported a 35 percent decrease in irregular EU border crossings during the first eight months of 2026. While migration pressure remained uneven across routes and nationalities, Germany reported fewer recipients of asylum-seeker benefits during the previous year.
During the first eight months of the year, Frontex recorded a decline of more than one-third in irregular border crossings at Europe’s external borders, extending a downward trend that has persisted for more than a year. The EU border agency, based in Warsaw, reported approximately 75,000 unauthorized entries, 35 percent fewer than during the corresponding period a year earlier. Frontex attributed the decline across most major migration routes to preventive measures in key countries of origin, combined with continuing cooperation with partner countries. EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner said the sustained reduction suggested that the EU’s shift in migration policy was beginning to produce measurable results, noting that irregular crossings had fallen consistently for 14 months. At the same time, he stressed that the trend did not remove the need for the bloc to continue strengthening its external borders.
The figures, however, do not capture the large-scale movement from Morocco toward the Spanish enclave of Ceuta at the end of July, Frontex cautioned. A definitive total will probably remain unavailable because most of those who crossed returned to Morocco before they could be registered. The episode underscored a broader operational challenge for European border authorities: Even when conditions appear relatively stable, developments at an external border can change rapidly. Frontex sources said the Ceuta incident demonstrated that a seemingly calm situation could shift within hours. Smuggling networks were not expected to disappear simply because overall crossing numbers were declining; instead, they could remain positioned to exploit the next opportunity. Maintaining operational readiness therefore remained essential even amid an overall reduction in irregular migration.
The Mediterranean continues to be the principal migration corridor, with people seeking to reach Europe by sea. Nearly 60 percent of recorded irregular entries occurred along routes from Libya and Tunisia toward Italy and Malta through the central Mediterranean and from Turkey toward Greece through the eastern Mediterranean. Both routes recorded substantial declines, contributing to the broader reduction in irregular crossings reported by Frontex. The picture was not uniform, however. On the western Mediterranean route toward Spain, the agency recorded a 34 percent increase, illustrating how migration pressure can shift between routes even as overall numbers decline.
Germany’s asylum-benefit rolls shrink
In Germany, approximately 390,000 people were receiving regular benefits under the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, or AsylbLG, at the end of 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office, known as Destatis. The number represented a decrease of 71,400 people, or 15 percent, from the previous year. Syrians formed the largest group among recipients, with approximately 64,600 people, accounting for 17 percent of all beneficiaries.
Asylum-seeker benefits are available to foreign nationals residing in Germany who meet the conditions established under Section 1 of the AsylbLG. The system distinguishes between regular and special benefits, reflecting different categories of need and eligibility. Regular benefits cover basic personal requirements as well as certain exceptional circumstances. Specific benefits in exceptional cases are generally reserved for people who have lived in Germany for at least 36 months without significant interruption and who have not deliberately prolonged their stay through abusive conduct, such as destroying identity documents or providing a false identity.
The demographic composition of regular-benefit recipients also showed substantial differences by age, sex and region of origin. At the end of 2025, men accounted for 61 percent of recipients and women for 39 percent. Minors represented 31 percent, while 62 percent were between 18 and 49 years old and 7 percent were age 50 or older. Nearly half, or 48 percent, came from Asia, while 30 percent originated in Europe and 17 percent in Africa. Syria was the most common country of origin, accounting for 17 percent, followed by Turkey at 15 percent, Afghanistan at 10 percent and Iraq at 7 percent. Ukrainians represented 5 percent of recipients.
Ukrainian refugees in need who held residence permits or corresponding provisional certificates had moved from the AsylbLG system into benefits governed by Social Code Books II or XII by Aug. 31, 2022. Under that system, they received social assistance or Bürgergeld rather than asylum-seeker benefits. Since then, newly arriving Ukrainians have generally been eligible for AsylbLG support only during the interim period before the required residence permit is issued and their eligibility under the standard social-benefit system is determined.
Changing origins of applicants mark Europe’s 2026 migration picture
Special benefits under the AsylbLG can be granted in particular circumstances regardless of how long an individual has lived in Germany. They include assistance related to illness, pregnancy and childbirth, employment opportunities and other specific needs. Approximately 214,800 people received such benefits at the end of 2025, 15 percent fewer than one year earlier. Of those, about 10,000 people received special benefits without simultaneously receiving regular benefits, meaning that their support was limited to the special-benefit category.
The distribution of asylum applications across Europe has also changed. According to the European Union Agency for Asylum, France received the largest number of applications for international protection during the first half of 2026, with 69,000 applications. Italy followed with 66,000, while Spain and Germany each recorded approximately 55,000. Together, those four countries accounted for roughly three-quarters of all applications in the EU, Switzerland and Norway. Greece recorded about 23,000 applications and had the highest number relative to its population.
Overall, applications for international protection across the EU, Switzerland and Norway continued to decline during the first half of 2026. Approximately 332,000 applications were submitted, 17 percent fewer than in the same period of 2025 and the lowest first-half total since 2021. The decline has formed part of a consistent pattern since late 2024. It reflects both changes in the national composition of applicants and continued EU efforts to cooperate with countries of origin and transit. The figures therefore point not only to fewer applications overall but also to a changing distribution of nationalities seeking protection in Europe.
Applications from Afghanistan fell by 7 percent to approximately 39,000 after a sharp increase in late 2025. Much of that earlier rise had been linked to repeated applications by Afghan women who were already present in Europe. Venezuelan applications declined by almost one-third to 33,000, with 93 percent of those applications filed in Spain. Applications from Bangladesh remained among the most numerous at approximately 20,000, despite increasing 13 percent from the previous year. Across the EU+ area, the recognition rate for international protection stood at 31 percent during the first half of 2026, providing a final indicator of how the changing volume of applications translated into decisions on protection claims.
