Germany records historic high of 332,500 naturalizations in 2025

Germany naturalized a record 332,500 foreign nationals in 2025, a 14 % increase over the previous year and the highest annual total since statistics began in 2000. As the Federal Statistical Office noted, "for the first time since 2000 more than 300,000 people were naturalized in a single year."

Syrians remain the largest group with about 65,600 new citizens, although their numbers fell 21 % from 2024. Turkish nationals came in second with 34,100, followed by Russians (19,700). Other notable rises included Bosnians (+126 % to 8,800), Americans (doubled to 6,600) and Albanians (+97 % to 6,100). The average residence period before naturalization was 12.4 years; for Syrians it was 7.9 years and for Turkish nationals 24.1 years.

Of the 467,400 applications filed, 371,100 were processed, with roughly 90 % resulting in citizenship, 3 % rejected and the remainder withdrawn or unresolved. The surge follows June 2024 reforms that cut the required legal residence from eight to five years and reinstated the possibility of dual citizenship, while the accelerated "turbo naturalisation" scheme was discontinued.