Overview
- Asylum filings fell to 168,543 in 2025 from 250,945 a year earlier, a 32.8% decline of about 82,000 applications, according to Interior Ministry data reported by Bild am Sonntag.
- The Federal Police recorded 62,526 illegal entries in 2025, down from 83,572 in 2024 and the lowest level in four years.
- The ministry had already noted a month-on-month decrease in applications by November 2025.
- Officials attribute the decline to more returns at the border, a suspension of family reunification, and the abolition of the so‑called turbo naturalization route.
- Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt framed the figures as proof of a migration policy shift, while the CSU has circulated an internal paper calling for additional restrictions.