Asylum in Germany: Almost a third fewer asylum applications in 2024

The number of asylum applications in Germany fell significantly last year. In the past year 2024, 229,751 initial applications were received, the majority from people from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey, said the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in Nuremberg. This means that almost 100,000 fewer people applied for asylum in Germany than in 2023 – a decrease of 30.2 percent.

Nevertheless, Germany remains far ahead in international comparison. Within the European Union, Germany is by far the leader in asylum applications, with Spain, France and Italy following well behind.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) viewed the clear decline in the number of applications as a success. She said: “We have been able to significantly reduce irregular migration.” Through the controls that have now been introduced at all German land borders, “we are thwarting the smuggling routes,” she added.

Controls at national borders should continue

The controls currently registered with the EU Commission until March would continue beyond this point. Faeser took the publication of the annual figures as an opportunity to call on the Bundestag to quickly pass the federal government’s draft laws drawn up by her house to implement the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). The new regulations stipulate, among other things, that asylum applications from people from countries with low recognition rates should be examined at the EU’s external borders.

From the Union’s perspective, the number of asylum seekers is still far too high. “They document the failure of this federal government in migration policy,” says the deputy chairwoman of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Andrea Lindholz. The municipalities are completely overburdened with caring for the many asylum seekers and refugees.

“The way in which Ms. Faeser is now sugarcoating the numbers is a sheer mockery in view of the situation on site,” says the CSU politician. A policy change in migration policy is necessary. “The core of this policy is stopping illegal migration at the internal borders.” Anyone who wants to enter Germany from a neighboring country is no longer threatened.

Less than half of the applicants received protection status

Despite the sometimes heated political debate on the topic, according to the figures presented by the Federal Office, 2024 was the year with only the seventh highest number of asylum applications filed in Germany. By far the most applications were made in 2016, when 745,545 initial and follow-up applications were received. The high number was, among other things, a consequence of the escalating civil war in Syria at the time.

At 44.4 percent, less than half of the applicants received protection status in 2024. While the protection rate for people from the civil war-torn Syria was comparatively high at 83 percent and Afghanistan, which is ruled by the Taliban, at 74.7 percent, not even one in ten asylum seekers from Turkey received protection status in Germany (9.4 percent). In 2023, the protection rate across all countries was 51.7 percent. A total of 301,350 initial and follow-up applications were decided last year.