Overview of statistical practice (1)
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) publishes monthly statistical reports (Aktuelle Zahlen zu Asyl) with information on applications and first instance decisions for main nationalities. More detailed information is provided in the monthly Asylgeschäftsstatistik and in other BAMF publications (Bundesamt in Zahlen).[1] Furthermore, detailed statistics can be found in responses to information requests which are regularly submitted by German members of parliament.
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: figures for 2025
| Applicants in 2025[2] | Pending as of 31 December 2025 (1) | Total decisions in 2025 (2) | Total in merit decisions | Total negative decisions (3) | In merit rejection | Refugee status | Subsidiary protection | Humanitarian protection (removal ban) | ||
| Total | 168,543 | 101,606 | 310,930 | 232,955 | 223,536 | 145,561 | 70,159 | 5,130 | 12,105 | |
|
Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers
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| Syria | 24,240 | 48,270 | 25,293 | 10,103 | 24,761 | 9,571 | 151 | 289 | 92 | |
| Afghanistan | 64,104 | 21,272 | 87,689 | 74,602 | 28,800 | 15,713 | 52,300 | 310 | 6,279 | |
| Türkiye | 14,686 | 6,523 | 57,790 | 48,647 | 53,095 | 43,952 | 4,406 | 239 | 50 | |
| Iraq | 4,907 | – | 13,951 | 9,488 | 11,545 | 7,082 | 1,545 | 276 | 585 | |
| Somalia | 4,713 | – | 10,074 | 7,162 | 4,082 | 1,170 | 2,864 | 467 | 2.661 | |
| Iran | 2,873 | – | 11,626 | 9,903 | 8,976 | 7,253 | 2,356 | 201 | 93 | |
| Guinea | 2,238 | – | 5,406 | 4,279 | 4,127 | 3,000 | 846 | 166 | 267 | |
| Russia | 3,943 | – | 11,106 | 7,645 | 10,578 | 7,117 | 355 | 135 | 38 | |
| Vietnam | 1,993 | – | 2,004 | 1,121 | 1,996 | 1,113 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| Eritrea | 2,572 | – | 4,043 | 3,499 | 1,160 | 616 | 2,024 | 746 | 113 | |
Source: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Asylzahlen Gesamtjahr und Dezember 2025, Press Release, 12 January 2026, available in German here.
Note 1: Statistics on decisions cover the decisions taken throughout the year, regardless of whether they concern applications lodged that year or in previous years.
Note 2: This includes both rejections based on the merit of the application and inadmissibility decisions or other formal reasons for not granting protection.
Note 3: This includes both rejections based on the merit of the application and inadmissibility decisions or other formal reasons for not granting protection..
In addition to refugee status and subsidiary protection, applicants can be issued two types of national protection statuses: on the one hand, constitutional asylum, which gives rise to the same rights as the recognition of refugee status (the figures on refugee status thus include constitutional asylum),[3] and on the other hand, a ‘removal ban’ for compelling humanitarian reasons (explained briefly under Short overview of the asylum procedure). Note that this includes only removal bans issued by the BAMF, and not by immigration authorities. The BAMF only examines removal bans due to the situation in the country of origin, whereas immigration authorities can issue removal bans based on the situation of the applicant in Germany (e.g. medical reasons, family unity etc).
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: rates for 2025
| Overall rejection rate (2) | In merit rejection rate (1) | Overall protection rate (2) | In merit protection rate (1) | Refugee rate (1) | Subsidiary
protection rate (1) |
Humanitarian
protection rate (1) |
|
| Total | 71.9% | 62.5% | 28.1% | 37.5% | 30.1% | 2.2% | 5.2% |
|
Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers
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| Syria | 97.9% | 94.7% | 2.1% | 5.3% | 1.5% | 2.9% | 0.9% |
| Afghanistan | 32.8% | 21.1% | 67.2% | 78.9% | 70.1% | 0.4% | 8.4% |
| Türkiye | 91.9% | 90.3% | 8.1% | 9.7% | 9.1% | 0.5% | 0.1% |
| Iraq | 82.8% | 74.6% | 17.2% | 25.4% | 16.3% | 2.9% | 6.2% |
| Somalia | 40.5% | 16.3% | 59.5% | 83.7% | 40.0% | 6.5% | 37.2% |
| Iran | 77.2% | 73.2% | 22.8% | 26.8% | 23.8% | 2.0% | 0.9% |
| Guinea | 76.3% | 70.1% | 23.7% | 29.9% | 19.8% | 3.9% | 6.2% |
| Russia | 95.2% | 93.1% | 4.8% | 6.9% | 4.6% | 1.8% | 0.5% |
| Vietnam | 99.6% | 99.3% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Eritrea | 28.7% | 17.6% | 71.3% | 82.4% | 57.8% | 21.3% | 3.2% |
Source of the percentages: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Asylgeschäftsstatistik 2025, Press Release, 12 January 2026, available in German here; Further rates were calculated by ECRE based on figures from the first statistical table.
Note 1: These rates are calculated based on in merit decisions only, excluding non in merit rejections.
Note 2: These rates are calculated based on total decisions. For calculation of these percentages, formal decisions are counted as neither protection nor rejection decisions, but as a separate category. Formal decisions represented 25.1% of total decisions in 2025.
Gender/age breakdown of the total number of applicants: 2025
| Adults | Children | ||
| All | Unaccompanied | ||
| Number | 62,360 | 50,866 | 4,926 |
| Percentage | 55,1% | 44,9% | 4,4% |
| Men | Women | |
| Number | 67,241 | 45,995 |
| Percentage | 59.4% | 40.6% |
Source: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Asylzahlen Gesamtjahr und Dezember 2025, Press Release, 12 January 2026, available in German here; Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 21/4448, 2 March 2026, available in German here.
Note: The gender breakdown (Men/Women) applies to all applicants, not only adults.
First instance and appeal decision rates: 2025 (‘adjusted decision rates’, excluding formal decisions)
It should be noted that, during the same year, the first instance and appeal authorities handle different caseloads. Thus, the decisions below do not concern the same applicants.
| First instance | Appeal | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of decisions | 310,930 | N/A (100%) | 99,182 | N/A (100%) |
| Total number of in-merit decisions | 232,955 | 74.9% | 42,671 | 43.02% |
| Positive decisions (out of in merit) | 87,394 | 28.1% | 6,310 | 14.79% |
| ● Refugee status (incl. constitutional asylum) | 70,159 | 22.6% | 3,091 | 7.24% |
| ● Subsidiary protection | 5,130 | 1.6% | 805 | 1.89% |
| ● Humanitarian protection | 12,105 | 3.9% | 2,414 | 5.66% |
| Negative decisions (in merit, out of in merit) | 145,561 | 46.8% | 36,361 | 36.7% |
Source: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, Asylzahlen Gesamtjahr und Dezember 2025, Press Release, 12 January 2026, available in German here; Federal Government, Reply to parliamentary question by The Left, 21/4448, 2 March 2026, available in German here.
[1] BAMF, Asylum Figures, available in English here.
[2] This column includes both first-time applicants and subsequent applications in the asylum procedure.
[3] Constitutional asylum was granted in 4,124 cases in 2025 compared to 1,964 cases in 2024.