Overview

• Germany recorded 7,803 first-time asylum applications in August 2025, roughly 60% fewer than the 18,427 a year earlier, according to BAMF-confirmed figures.
• The drop continues a months-long decline, with July registering 8,293 first-time claims compared with 18,503 in July 2024.
• Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt credits tougher policy for the decline and says the government’s measures are working.
• Expanded internal land-border checks and rejections ordered on May 7 have yielded 9,506 refusals by the Bundespolizei from May 8 through July, a practice criticized as legally contentious.
• The federal government has prolonged internal border controls for six months to March 2026 without a detailed exit plan; regional data echo the trend, including a 62% August decline in Baden-Württemberg and increased deportations.