Last updated: 2026-10-19

Immigration in Europe in 2026: country data, EU rules, returns and election results

EU+ asylum applications fell to about 822,000 in 2025, down from 1.14 million in 2023, and irregular border crossings fell to almost 178,000. About 46.7 million people in the EU were born outside it on 1 January 2025 (10.4% of residents). The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum began to apply on 12 June 2026, and anti-immigration parties had mixed results at the ballot box.

Many figures here come from news outlets quoting Eurostat, the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA) or Frontex, and are marked "secondary". Foreign-born means born in another country, which differs from foreign citizen and from born outside the EU. For France in detail, see the France section and the France-focused Europe comparison.

Key figures

How many immigrants live in the EU?

About 46.7 million EU residents were born outside the EU on 1 January 2025, or 10.4% of 450.6 million residents, up 1.9 million in a year. Third-country nationals (citizenship) numbered about 30.6 million, or 6.8% of the EU population. Both figures are secondary reports of Eurostat data.

By absolute number born in any other country, Germany had 17.2 million, France 9.6 million, Spain 9.5 million and Italy 6.9 million. By share, Luxembourg was highest at 51.5%, followed by Malta (32.0%), Cyprus (27.6%) and Ireland (23.3%).

Reference years differ between sources, so rows are indicative. UN DESA's 2024 figures differ again, for example Germany at 19.8% and Sweden at 21.4%.

Most settlement is not through asylum. Eurostat counted about 3.5 million first residence permits to non-EU citizens in 2024, down 8.3% from the 2023 record. By reason, employment accounted for 31.9%, family 27.1%, other reasons including international protection 25.3% and education 15.7%. Spain issued the most, at 561,640 (16.0% of the EU total).

How many people apply for asylum in Europe?

EU+ applications fell three years running from the 2023 level. The EUAA counts the EU plus Norway and Switzerland, so its totals differ from Eurostat's EU-only figures.

Sources: 2023 and 2024 from the EUAA Asylum Report 2025 and WAM (secondary for national counts); 2025 from the EUAA Asylum Report 2026.

• Trend: 2025 applications were about one-fifth below 2024. The EUAA attributes much of the fall to a 72% drop in Syrian applications after the change of government in Syria.
• Nationalities: the top origins in 2025 were Afghanistan (14%), Venezuela (11%), Syria (5%), Bangladesh (4%) and Türkiye (4%). Repeat applications rose 39% to a record 15% of the total.
• Eurostat view: the EU had 669,365 first-time applicants in 2025, down 26.6%. Spain had 21.1% of them and Italy 18.9%. Greece had the highest rate per head, at 5.3 per 1,000 residents.
• 2026: EU+ applications were about 332,000 in the first half of 2026, down 17% and the lowest since 2019. France received 69,000, Italy 66,000, Spain 55,000 and Germany 54,000, as reported in a secondary summary of the EUAA mid-year review.
• Germany: the national agency BAMF counted 168,543 total applications in 2025, 113,236 of them first-time, down 30.2% from 229,751 in 2024. The difference from the EUAA's 163,000 reflects different counting rules.

How many people cross EU borders irregularly?

Frontex detected almost 178,000 irregular crossings in 2025, down 26% and the lowest since 2021, against just over 239,000 in 2024, a 38% fall on 2023. In 2015 the figure was about 1.82 million, so the 2025 total is about one tenth of that peak.

Sources: Frontex year-end release and its 11-month release. The Western Balkans fell, but no full-year count was retrieved.

How many people ordered to leave are actually returned?

About one in three. In 2025 the EU issued 491,950 orders to leave and recorded 155,110 returns to third countries, roughly 32% by Gapminder's calculation. In 2024 the figures were 453,840 orders and 119,155 returns, about 26%.

Eurostat counts orders and returns in the same year, but they cover different groups of people. The ratio is therefore an approximation, not a completion rate. Per country, quarterly data for Q4 2025 show:

Source: Eurostat news, 31 March 2026. The quarterly numbers cover different cohorts, so the rows should not be divided. Gapminder calculates that Sweden returned about 76% of those ordered in 2025 (13,990 of 18,340), a secondary figure.

What is Germany's immigration situation?

Germany has the largest foreign-born population in the EU, with net migration falling from 1.46 million in 2022 to 235,000 in 2025. Destatis reports net migration of 1,462,089 in 2022, 662,964 in 2023, 430,183 in 2024 and 235,000 in 2025. Net inflow from Syria fell from 74,039 in 2024 to 17,257 in 2025. UN DESA counts 16.8 million migrants, while Destatis found 21.8 million people (26.3%) with an "immigration history" in 2025.

The CDU/CSU-SPD government under Friedrich Merz took office in May 2025. Its measures, per the AIDA country report unless stated:

• More than 21,500 people were turned back at internal borders between May and November 2025, despite court doubts.
• Family reunification for subsidiary-protection holders was suspended from 24 July 2025 until 23 July 2027. Interior Minister Dobrindt said it would mean about 12,000 fewer arrivals a year, according to an agency report.
• The three-year fast track to citizenship was abolished; the five-year standard applies and dual citizenship remains.
• From December 2025 the government can designate safe countries of origin by ordinance.
• Skilled-worker recruitment continues, including an expanded Opportunity Card, per a Wikipedia summary.

In June 2025 the Berlin Administrative Court found that turning back three Somali asylum seekers at the Polish border was unlawful without first determining which EU state was responsible. Merz said turn-backs could continue.

The AfD won 20.8% and 152 of 630 seats in February 2025, second behind CDU/CSU on 28.5%. In Saxony-Anhalt on 6 September 2026 the AfD took 43.8% in preliminary final results, against 20.8% in 2021, with the CDU on 17.2% (secondary). Other mainstream parties continue to rule out cooperation with the AfD.

What is happening in Sweden?

Sweden's government, which came to power in 2022 pledging to cut gang crime and reduce immigration, saw asylum applications fall to a roughly 40-year low, according to Arab News (secondary; the figure was not retrieved). UN DESA puts the foreign-born share at 21.4%. Secondary sources give 2025 net migration of about +12,000 to +22,000 and disagree.

Gun-violence deaths were 84 in 2025, down from 92 in 2024 and 124 at the 2020 peak, according to the national crime prevention council Brå. Officials credit surveillance powers, tougher sentences and more resources, and the sources do not link the trend to immigration policy.

In the 13 September 2026 election, preliminary results put the opposition bloc on 176 seats and the governing bloc on 173, with the Sweden Democrats on 62 seats, down 11. These are preliminary figures, and the final count should be checked.

What is Italy's policy, including the Albania centres?

Italy received 126,635 first-time asylum applicants in 2025, 18.9% of the EU total. It had net international migration of +296,000 in 2025 and 5.56 million foreign residents (9.4%) on 1 January 2026. It lies on the Central Mediterranean route.

Italy's agreement with Albania opened centres at Shëngjin and Gjadër in October 2024. Italian courts ordered migrants returned to Italy under EU law almost immediately, and by mid-2025 the centres held only a few dozen people against a target of 3,000 a month (secondary). Gjadër was also designated a 144-place repatriation centre. On 23 April 2026 an Advocate General of the EU Court of Justice gave a non-binding opinion that the transfers are compatible with EU law. The final judgment had not been found when this page was written.

What happened with Spain's regularisation?

Spain's foreign-born population passed 10 million for the first time in January 2026, and Spain received the most first-time asylum applicants in the EU in 2025, led by Venezuelans (89,455). Royal Decree 316/2026 let people in Spain before 1 January 2026 with five months' residence and no criminal record apply between 16 April and 30 June 2026 for a one-year permit.

Application totals conflict. An immigration-law firm citing official data reported about 900,000 applications by mid-June, with 360,000 accepted for processing, while platform data on the same page suggest about 1.3 million, which is unconfirmed. Government projections were about half a million beneficiaries, per secondary reports.

What is happening in the Netherlands and Denmark?

The Dutch Schoof coalition collapsed on 3 June 2025 when Geert Wilders withdrew his PVV after partners declined his 10-point asylum plan. In the 29 October 2025 election D66 and the PVV each won 26 of 150 seats, with D66 ahead by 29,668 votes. A D66-VVD-CDA minority cabinet under Rob Jetten took office on 23 February 2026. Its asylum measures were not reviewed for this page.

CBS reported that in 2025 about 307,000 people immigrated and 212,000 emigrated, net +95,000, and that first-time asylum requests were 24,100, 8,000 fewer than in 2024. Family migration followed a record 16,500.

Denmark registered 1,835 asylum applications and granted 839 by the end of November 2025, a historic low. Its tools include temporary permits, delayed family reunification and border controls. Friedrich Ebert Foundation researchers argue that factors such as Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine also played a role in the decline, per a Wikipedia overview. Denmark is not bound by the EU's common safe-country list.

What does the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum do?

The Pact, adopted in 2024, began to apply on 12 June 2026. It introduces mandatory border procedures for applicants from countries with a recognition rate below 20%. Nearly 56% of first-half 2026 applications came from nationalities that meet this criterion.

• Safe countries: on 23 February 2026 the Council adopted the first EU-wide list of safe countries of origin (Regulation 2026/464) with revised safe third country rules. The list covers candidate countries meeting conditions including a recognition rate of 20% or less.
• Readiness: the Commission's May 2026 report found gaps, and Hungary said it would not submit an implementation plan, per the EU Migration Law Blog. The European Policy Centre argued states were not ready.
• Returns: a provisional deal on a Return Regulation was reached on 1 June 2026, allowing returns to safe third countries and other arrangement countries, with sanctions for non-cooperation. Parliament approved it 418 to 218. Final adoption was not confirmed, and sources disagree on whether families with children may be sent to return hubs.

How have parties that campaign against immigration performed?

Results are mixed. The table lists selected elections; results come from Wikipedia and press reports unless stated, so verify them before relying on them.

Parties that campaign against immigration gained in Germany, Portugal, Czechia and at the European Parliament, and lost ground in the Netherlands, Hungary and, in preliminary results, Sweden. France's own results are covered in the France section.

What do Europeans say about immigration?

In autumn 2024, 28% of EU respondents named migration as one of the two top issues facing the EU, second to the war in Ukraine at 31%. In spring 2024 it was third at 24%, per EUobserver, and the peak was 48% in spring 2016 (EUobserver). The immigration figure from spring 2026 was not retrieved.

Does tighter policy reduce arrivals or crime?

Sources do not establish a causal link either way. Countries that tightened policy, including Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, have different outcomes on their own measures. This page presents the measures and figures and does not attribute causes.

How does the UK compare?

The UK is outside the EU, but it is a common comparison. About 41,472 people arrived by small boat in 2025, second only to the 2022 record of 45,774, according to a secondary report. See the United Kingdom page for Home Office figures.

Related pages

• World migration overview
• Immigration by country: 15-country comparison
• Immigration in the United Kingdom
• Canada, Australia, the Gulf and Japan
• France immigration and France and Europe compared
• United States immigration
• Somali communities
• Frequently asked questions