EU asylum applications fell sharply in the first half of 2026, reaching their lowest level for the first six months of a year since 2021. Countries in the EU+, which includes the 27 EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland, received around 332,000 applications for international protection, 17% fewer than during the same period in 2025, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).
The decline extends a downward trend that began in late 2024. Excluding the years affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of applications was also the lowest recorded for a first half-year since 2019.
EU asylum applications have been falling since late 2024
According to the EUAA Mid-Year Review 2026, the reduction partly reflects changes in the countries of origin of people seeking protection in Europe.
One of the most significant factors has been the sharp fall in applications from Syrian citizens following the end of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024 and the subsequent political transition in Syria. Syrian applications had already declined substantially during 2025.
The EUAA also points to cooperation between the European Union and countries of origin and transit as another factor that has reduced movements along some migration routes.
The agency nevertheless describes Syria’s political transition as fragile. It also notes that the recent escalation of hostilities elsewhere in the Middle East has so far not resulted in an increase in asylum applications in the EU+.
Afghans remain the largest group of asylum applicants
Citizens of Afghanistan submitted the largest number of applications during the first six months of 2026, with around 39,000 cases. This was still 7% fewer than during the same period in 2025.
They were followed by Venezuelans, with around 33,000 applications, and Bangladeshis, with approximately 20,000. Venezuelan applications fell by almost one third compared with the previous year, while applications from Bangladeshi citizens increased by 13%.
The geographical distribution of asylum requests also changed. France received the largest number in the EU+, with approximately 69,000 applications, followed by Italy with 66,000. Spain and Germany each recorded around 55,000.
Together, the four countries accounted for roughly three quarters of all applications received in the EU+ during the first half of the year. Relative to population, however, Greece received the highest number, at approximately one application for every 400 residents.
Fewer than one in three applications resulted in protection
The EU+ recognition rate at first instance was 31% during the first half of 2026. This means that fewer than one third of first-instance decisions resulted in refugee status or subsidiary protection.
The figure does not mean that 31% of the applications submitted during the same six-month period were accepted, as asylum procedures can take months or longer and the decisions may concern cases filed earlier.
The data also show that asylum authorities continue to face a substantial backlog. At the end of June, around 770,000 applications were awaiting a first-instance decision, 8% fewer than one year earlier. When administrative and judicial proceedings are included, the EUAA estimates that around 1.18 million cases remained pending.
The composition of that backlog is becoming older. Cases pending for more than six months represented 73% of the first-instance caseload, up from 68% a year earlier.
The decline comes as the EU’s new asylum rules take effect
The latest figures also coincide with a major change in European migration policy. The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into application on 12 June 2026, introducing new rules for border procedures, the examination of asylum requests and cooperation between Member States.
Under the new framework, accelerated procedures can apply in specific circumstances, including to applicants from countries with particularly low EU-wide recognition rates or countries designated as safe countries of origin.
The EUAA said that almost 56% of applications lodged during the first half of 2026 came from citizenships meeting at least one of the relevant criteria under the new framework.
The latest figures therefore provide something of a baseline for the European asylum system at the moment the new rules entered into force. While the number of applications has fallen considerably from recent levels, hundreds of thousands of cases remain pending and developments in Syria, Afghanistan and other countries of origin could still alter migration patterns in the coming months.
