The number of Turkish citizens applying for asylum in Germany on political, legal and humanitarian grounds fell by 65 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, dropping to 6,000 by the end of the year, according to data released by Germany’s Federal Statistical Office.
During the same period, the total number of people entering Germany for the first time to seek asylum also declined by 46.4 percent, falling to 134,000, media reported on May 12, quoting the data.
The total number of asylum seekers in Germany stood at 3.2 million at the end of 2025, equivalent to 3.9 percent of the country’s population.
Ukrainians constituted the largest group, numbering 1.16 million, followed by 669,000 Syrians and 321,000 Afghans. Nationals of these three countries accounted for approximately 66.5 percent of all asylum seekers in Germany.
The steepest decline in first-time asylum applications was recorded among Syrian and Turkish citizens. Applications from Syria dropped by 73.8 percent, falling from 36,000 to 13,000, while applications from Türkiye declined by 65 percent, decreasing from 11,000 to 6,000.
First-time applications from Ukraine also fell by 32.5 percent, dropping from 93,000 to 45,000.
According to the data, 83.4 percent of the 2.7 million people who had applied for asylum in Germany were granted humanitarian residence permits. Of this group, 88.1 percent received temporary residence permits, while only 11.9 percent obtained permanent residency rights.
Officials noted that the decline in applications from Türkiye and Syria is linked not only to conditions in the countries of origin but also to increasingly prolonged and uncertain asylum procedures in Germany. Lengthening processing times and rising rejection rates are cited among the key factors discouraging new applications.
