Daniel Wolfram
EU asylum claims has continued to decline since 2024.
European countries saw asylum applications tumble to a five-year low during the first half of this year.
Data from the European Union Agency for Asylum shows (EUAA) that EU nations, alongside Switzerland and Norway, processed roughly 332,000 claims for asylum in the first six months of 2026.
That figure marks a 17 percent decline from the same period in 2025.
Even as tensions flared across the Middle East, European officials noted that the regional turmoil did not trigger a fresh surge of immigration toward Europe. Instead, changing conditions inside key nations played a crucial role.
Where are immigrants going?
France took in the highest volume of total asylum requests at 69,000, followed closely by Italy with 66,000 claims. Spain and Germany each recorded 55,000 applications.
Greece carried the heaviest load relative to its population size. With 23,000 requests filed, that equals roughly one applicant for every 400 Greek residents.
Afghan nationals made up the single largest group. They submitted 39,000 claims. Venezuelan applicants followed with 33,500 requests, while 19,500 people from Bangladesh sought asylum.
Who gets approved?
Approval rates remained selective across the board. The asylum agency reported that only 31 percent of first-instance asylum applications resulted in international protection, with full refugee status granted far more often than temporary subsidiary protection.
Applicants from Mali saw the highest approval rate at 87 percent, followed by Haitians at 84 percent and Afghans at 73 percent.
This broader slowdown coincides with new legal frameworks taking effect across Europe. On 12 June, the Pact on Migration and Asylum went live, enforcing mandatory external border checks alongside fast-track application processing.
