Applications for international protection submitted in the EU+ area, which in addition to the countries of the European Union includes Switzerland and Norway, have decreased by 17%. This is reported by the European Union Agency for Asylum (Euaa) in its semi-annual report Latest Asylum Trends: Mid-Year Review 2026. There were about 332,000 asylum applications received in the first half of the current year, the lowest figure recorded since 2021 and, excluding the pandemic years, the lowest since 2019.
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According to the Euaa report, the decline fits into a trend ongoing since the end of 2024. The two main factors that caused this decrease are the change in the composition of nationalities of applicants and the European Union’s efforts in cooperation with countries of origin and transit. The conflict in the Middle East, on the other hand, has not had an impact on the phenomenon.
Trends in asylum applications
Analyzing the entire Europe+ area, Afghans remain the top nationality for applications (about 39,000), despite a 7% year-on-year decrease. In the first half of 2026, international protection applications increased from Bangladesh, a country experiencing a period of strong political instability, and from Sudan, Haiti, and Somalia, three countries torn by internal conflicts. In strong contrast, Venezuela, where asylum applications decreased by almost a third compared to the previous year, and Syria, a state undergoing a political transition following the fall of the Assad government at the end of 2024. Colombia, Ukraine, and Turkey follow this downward trajectory.
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Host countries with the most applications
In first place for international protection applications is France, with about 69,000 applications. In second place is Italy, with 66,000 applications. Germany and Spain follow tied, with 55,000 applications each. Overall, these four countries received about 75% of all applications submitted in the EU+ area, a rate slightly down compared to previous reference periods.
Latest Asylum Trends also calculates the ratio between the number of asylum applications and the population of the host state. It emerges that Greece is the country with the highest level, at 2,254 applications per million inhabitants. Our country counts 1,127 applications per million citizens, a value higher than the EU+ average of 710.
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