Germany sees 27% drop in asylum applications in first half of 2026

In the first half of 2026 Germany received 51,147 asylum applications, a decline of 27% compared with the 70,000 filed in the same period of 2025.

The figure puts Germany fourth among the EU‑plus group (EU, Norway, Switzerland) after France (65,538), Italy (63,985) and Spain (53,888). The lowest numbers were recorded in Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania.

Applicants to Germany were dominated by citizens of Afghanistan, who made up 37% of the total, while Turkey and Syria each contributed about 9%.

Across the European Union, 321,627 protection requests were submitted between January and June 2026, down 19.3% from 399,000 in the first half of 2025. The principal countries of origin were Afghanistan (37,419), Venezuela (33,754) and Bangladesh (18,970). Germany remains the top destination for Afghans, Spain for Venezuelans and Italy for Bangladeshis. The data come from a confidential EU Commission report (ISAA Report No. 533) dated 2 July 2026.