EU asylum applications fall to their lowest first-half level since 2021

Applications fall again

European Union countries received about 332,000 asylum applications during the first half of 2026, a decline of 17% from the same period a year earlier, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum. Excluding the exceptional pandemic years, that was the lowest first-half total since 2019; measured against the immediately preceding years, it was the lowest since 2021. The figures continue a decline that began after applications rose through 2023.

Meduza reported the new figures on September 10 after reviewing the agency's mid-year release. France received the largest number, approximately 69,000 applications, followed by Italy with about 66,000. Spain and Germany each received roughly 55,000. That distribution marks a notable change from the long period beginning in 2012 when Germany was usually the EU's principal destination for asylum claims.

Who is seeking protection

Afghans remained the largest applicant group, lodging about 39,000 claims. Venezuelans submitted approximately 33,000 and Bangladeshis about 22,000. The EUAA calculates that around 30% of first-instance decisions resulted in EU-regulated protection, although recognition rates vary sharply by nationality and do not include every national humanitarian status. The agency cautions that its latest country data are provisional and may later differ from validated Eurostat totals.

The fall cannot be read simply as an end to displacement pressures. The agency has linked the broader decline partly to political changes in major countries of origin, particularly Syria, and to cooperation with partner countries along migration routes. Conflict and instability nevertheless continue to generate claims from several regions, while changes in routes can quickly redistribute arrivals among border and destination states.

Why the timing matters

The mid-year snapshot arrives just after the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into application on June 12. Its ten connected laws revise border procedures, responsibility-sharing and case management. Lower application numbers may give national administrations more room to implement those systems, but the measure of success will also include processing times, reception conditions and consistent access to protection rather than the headline count alone.

The next indicators to watch are the number of cases awaiting first-instance decisions, whether France retains its new position, and how the pact changes transfers and solidarity between member states. Because the EUAA dataset was compiled from information exchanged by national authorities as of August 7, later revisions are possible. The present finding is therefore a reliable directional snapshot, not a final annual total.