How many people arrived in Europe irregularly last year?
In 2025 Frontex recorded 180,139 detections of irregular crossings at the EU's external borders: fewer than in any year since 2021, and roughly a tenth of the 2015 peak (1,822,102). Mind the measure: these are detections, not people — someone detected at two different borders is counted twice.
Is migration to Europe rising or falling?
It depends on which flow you look at. Irregular crossings are falling from their recent 2023 peak (381,257 → 180,139 in 2025); first-time asylum applications are also dropping sharply (1,049,905 in 2023 → 670,165 in 2025). Regular migration — far larger — remains at historically high levels: 5,495,617 registered arrivals in EU countries in 2024. A single answer (“rising” or “falling”) would be misleading.
What is the difference between a migrant, an asylum seeker and a refugee?
A migrant is anyone who moves to another country, for whatever reason: work, study, family or protection. An asylum seeker has lodged an application for international protection and is awaiting a decision. A refugee has been granted that protection because they risk persecution under the 1951 Geneva Convention (or related forms such as subsidiary protection). The three words describe different legal statuses, not different kinds of people: the same person can move from one to the other. Full definitions are in the glossary.
Why are asylum applications more numerous than irregular crossings?
In 2025 the EU registered 670,165 first-time asylum applications against 180,139 detected irregular crossings. This is not a paradox: many asylum seekers enter Europe legally, with a visa or visa-free, and apply for protection after arriving. That is the case for Venezuelans — today the top citizenship for applications — who reach Spain by plane. Others apply months or years after entering. The two series measure different things and should be neither added up nor compared like for like.
Which European country receives the most asylum applications?
In 2025, first-time applications were lodged mainly in: Spain (141,050), Italy (126,630), France (116,480), Germany (113,235). For roughly a decade Germany had ranked first; in 2025 Spain overtook it, driven by applications from Venezuelans and Colombians. Relative to population the picture changes again: Cyprus and Greece have carried the heaviest per-capita load for years.
Where do asylum seekers come from?
In 2025 the top citizenships for applications lodged in the EU were: Venezuela (89,460), Afghanistan (63,900), Syria (40,410), Bangladesh (35,305). Origins track crises: for a decade Syria ranked first almost every year, but after the fall of the Assad regime (December 2024) Syrian applications collapsed. Applications from Latin America, directed at Spain, have grown, while Afghanistan and Bangladesh remain high.
How many people move to Europe legally each year?
Far more than arrive irregularly. In 2024 EU countries registered 5,495,617 regular immigrations — about 23 times the irregular crossings detected that same year — and 3,166,449 emigrations, for a net balance of +2,329,168. The figure also includes EU citizens moving between member states and returning nationals: the exact definition is in the methodology. The top countries by arrivals: Spain (1,288,562), Germany (1,078,504), Italy (451,583).
Do Europeans still emigrate?
Yes, and in far from marginal numbers. In 2024, nationals leaving their own country included France (183,617), Romania (182,598), Germany (151,286), Italy (141,056) — and the true figure is almost certainly higher, because emigration is measured through de-registrations and people who leave do not always deregister (for Italy, the AIRE registry). The atlas devotes a chapter to who leaves, by country and by age: from Italy it is mostly young people aged 25–34.
What are the main migratory routes to Europe?
Frontex classifies crossings into six main routes, each with its own geography and its own season. In 2025 the busiest was the Central Mediterranean (66,551 detections, about 37% of the total).
| Route | Geography | Peak year | Detections 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Mediterranean | Libya · Tunisia → Italy, Malta | 2016 (181,376) | 66,551 |
| Eastern Mediterranean | Türkiye → Greece, Cyprus | 2015 (885,386) | 52,502 |
| Western Mediterranean | Morocco · Algeria → Spain | 2018 (56,245) | 19,195 |
| Western African | West Africa → Canaries | 2024 (46,820) | 17,862 |
| Western Balkans | Balkans → Hungary, Croatia | 2015 (764,033) | 12,526 |
| Eastern borders | Belarus · Russia → eastern EU | 2024 (17,260) | 11,044 |
What about people fleeing Ukraine — where do they appear in these numbers?
Mostly they do not appear — and it is one of the most important things to know when reading the atlas. For people fleeing Russia's 2022 invasion, the EU activated its temporary protection directive for the first time: an immediate, collective status that does not require an asylum application. Over four million people hold it, which is why they do not show up among the asylum applications charted here. They do appear, in part, in regular migration once registered as residents.
How many people acquire the citizenship of an EU country?
In 2024 there were 1,177,232 citizenship acquisitions across EU countries. Leading: Germany (288,670), Spain (252,476), Italy (217,448). It is the last mile of integration, and it lags arrivals by years: those who become citizens today typically immigrated seven to ten years ago. In Italy the top origins of new citizens are Albania (31,643), Morocco (27,638).
Why are these numbers different from what I read in the news?
Almost always because different measures are being compared. “Arrivals” can mean Frontex detections (which count crossings, not people), disembarkations registered by a ministry, sea arrivals tallied by UNHCR, or asylum applications: four legitimate series giving four different numbers. Sometimes a partial year is compared with a complete one. This atlas always states the source, the definition and the months covered — the best rule for reading any migration statistic.
Where does this data come from, and how often is it updated?
Every series comes from official, public sources: Frontex for irregular crossings, Eurostat for asylum, regular migration and citizenship. No figure is estimated or adjusted by us: only aggregated and charted. The atlas is refreshed with each new source release; right now the series run through February 2026. The full path from raw data to chart is described in the methodology.