Overview
- Official figures show total first and follow-up applications fell from 250,945 in 2024 to 168,543 in 2025, a 32.8 percent decrease.
- First-time applications dropped to 113,236 from 229,751 a year earlier, roughly a halving compared with 2024 levels.
- The federal police recorded 62,526 illegal entries in 2025, down from 83,572 in 2024 and the lowest tally in four years.
- The ministry cites border refusals, a suspension of family reunification, abolition of the “Turboeinbürgerung,” and more deportations, with removals up about 20 percent.
- Analysts point to concurrent drivers including changes in Syria and EU-wide declines, and they note the downward trend began before Alexander Dobrindt became interior minister.