EU asylum requests fall to five-year low, agency says

Asylum applications in the European Union plus Switzerland and Norway fell to a five-year low in the first half of 2026, the European Union Agency for Asylum said Thursday.

The EUAA said the EU+ area received 332,000 applications for international protection from January to June, 17 percent fewer than in the same period last year. It said this was the lowest number recorded in the first half of a year since 2021.

The agency attributed the decline partly to Syria's political transition, which it said had led to a large fall in applications by Syrian nationals. It also cited EU cooperation with countries of origin and transit.

Afghans were the largest group of applicants, with 39,000 requests, followed by Venezuelans and Bangladeshis, the EUAA said.

Less than a third of applications processed in the first six months of the year were successful, according to the agency. It said nearly 56 percent of applications came from citizenships covered by criteria that can trigger an expedited procedure under rules that came into force in June, including low recognition rates or EU designation as a safe country.

Among EU countries, France received the most applications with 69,000, followed by Italy with 66,000, Spain with 55,000 and Germany with 55,000, the EUAA said. Greece received 23,000 requests and had the highest number per capita.