Germany has ascended to the third-highest rank in terms of the volume of asylum applicants.

In a significant change of events, Germany has seen a surge in asylum applications from Venezuela, making it the top origin country for the first time in a decade, surpassing Syria. This shift in trends is reflected across the European Union (EU) and non-member states of Norway and Switzerland, where the overall number of new asylum seekers has decreased.

According to recent data, Germany received 70,000 new asylum applications in the first half of the year, placing it third within the EU behind France and Spain. Notably, Venezuela accounted for 49,000 of these applications, a stark contrast to the previous years.

The population of Venezuela has been significantly impacted by migration, with the country's population shrinking to just over 28 million since 2017. As a result, more than 9.1 million Venezuelans now live outside their home country.

The reasons behind this mass emigration are attributed to the authoritarian rule, poverty, lack of infrastructure, and healthcare issues under the Venezuelan government, led by President Nicolás Maduro.

Spain is the main destination for Venezuelan asylum seekers, with most of them usually accommodated in Germany. In the first eight months of 2025, 1,271 people from Venezuela applied for asylum in Germany for the first time.

The decrease in the overall number of asylum applications in the EU+ (the group of 29 countries including the EU states and non-member states of Norway and Switzerland) is not yet reflected in the number of asylum appeals in German administrative courts. By June 30, 2025, 76,646 new main proceedings were filed, more cases than in the whole of 2023 (71,885).

This backlog, along with the possibility of appeals, has led to a total of about 1.3 million decisions pending. There are over 900,000 applications in the first instance still pending decisions.

Meanwhile, France is currently receiving a significant number of asylum applications, with many coming from Ukraine. The main countries of origin for asylum seekers in France in the first half of 2025 include Ukraine, Mali, Algeria, and Senegal as key African origin countries contributing to the asylum applications.

Interestingly, the recognition rate for initial asylum applications has fallen to its lowest level ever measured, at 25%. The overall protection rate for Venezuelans was last reported at 10.9 percent by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf).

Italy has 64,000 new asylum applications, placing it fourth within the EU. Germany is no longer the European country with the most new asylum applications for the first time in over a decade.

These shifts in asylum trends across Europe highlight the complex and evolving nature of migration patterns and the challenges faced by countries in managing these influxes.

Germany has ascended to the third-highest rank in terms of the volume of asylum applicants.