Before you act: EU+ means the EU Member States plus Norway and Switzerland. Figures are reported by the EUAA and can be revised.
The European Union Agency for Asylum said applications for international protection in EU+ countries fell for a second consecutive year in 2025, to about 822,000. The report describes this as the lowest total since 2021.
The report also recorded about 4.5 million people receiving temporary protection after fleeing Ukraine. That status is separate from an individual asylum application and should not be combined with the application total.
What the number cannot tell us
An application count measures requests for protection, not the number of people who entered Europe, and not the number whose claims succeeded. Decisions can take place months after an application is lodged.
The EUAA points to several possible factors behind the decline, including political developments in countries of origin and cooperation with neighbouring and transit countries. The report does not assign the change to one single cause.
Primary record