In the first half of the year, the number of applications for international protection submitted in the EU dropped 17% to 2021 levels, indicating data released today by the European Asylum Agency (EEA).
© Lusa
10/09/2026
by
Lusa
ANDbetween January and June, the 30 EU+ countries (the 27 Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) received 332,000 asylum applications, less 17% than in the first quarter of 2025 and the lowest number recorded in the first half of a year since 2021, the EEA said in a statement.
This decline has continued since the end of 2024 and, for the EEA, ‘reflects not only a different mix of requesting nationalities, given the fragile but continuous political transition in Syria, but also the EU’s efforts to cooperate with the countries of origin and transit’.
The agency also stressed that “the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East has not resulted in an increase in asylum applications in the EU+”, according to the same note.
Between January and June, requests for nationals of Afghanistan (39,000) decreased by 7% on a homologous basis, after a peak at the end of 2025, followed by requests for nationals of Venezuela (33,000), which decreased by almost one third and with 93% to be submitted in Spain.
Bangladeshi nationals (20 thousand) remained among the main nationalities, with applications increasing by 13% in the annual comparison.
France was the country of the EU+ which received the most applications (69,000) in the first half of 2026, representing one fifth of all applications, followed closely by Italy (66,000), Spain (55,000) and Germany (55,000).
Together, these four countries received about three quarters of all asylum applications.