Cyprus stays high on EU asylum map as first-time applications decline 

Cyprus remained among the European Union countries with the highest number of first-time asylum applications relative to its population in 2025, even as the bloc recorded a sharp fall in overall claims, according to data published by Eurostat this week.

Across the EU, 669,400 first-time asylum applicants from non-EU countries sought international protection last year, down 27 per cent from 912,400 in 2024, Eurostat said.

First-time applicants accounted for 83.9 per cent of the total number of asylum applicants recorded in the bloc in 2025, while subsequent applications rose to 127,340, an increase of 51.3 per cent compared with the previous year.

On a per capita basis, Greece recorded the highest rate of first-time asylum applicants in 2025, at 5.3 per 1,000 people, followed by Cyprus and Spain with 2.9 each.

Luxembourg followed with 2.6, while Ireland stood at 2.4, against an EU average of 1.5 per 1,000 people.

In absolute terms, however, Spain received the largest number of first-time asylum applications, with 141,035, accounting for just over 21 per cent of the EU total.

It was followed by Italy with 126,635, France with 116,370, Germany with 113,170 and Greece with 55,380. Those five countries together handled 82.6 per cent of all first-time applications lodged across the bloc last year.

The latest figures also showed a change in the profile of the main nationalities seeking protection. Venezuelans were the largest group of first-time asylum applicants in 2025, submitting 89,500 claims, 13 per cent of the total.

They were followed by Afghans with 63,800 applications, 10 per cent, while Syrians ranked third with 40,000, 6 per cent.

Eurostat noted that Syrians had previously been the leading nationality among first-time asylum applicants in the EU every year from 2013 to 2024.

The wider annual dataset showed that the decline in first-time claims did not mean pressure had disappeared from asylum systems across the bloc.

While new claims fell markedly, the rise in repeat applications pointed to a more complex picture in which a growing number of people remained within national asylum procedures or returned to seek protection again.

That is an inference from Eurostat’s figures on first-time and subsequent applications rather than a direct conclusion stated by the agency.

Eurostat also said the EU received 21,125 asylum applications from unaccompanied minors in 2025. Of those, 13 per cent were lodged by Afghan minors, equivalent to 2,690 applications.

They were followed by Eritrea with 2,345, Syria with 2,330, Egypt with 2,295 and Somalia with 2,290, each accounting for around 11 per cent of the total.

Among member states, Germany received the highest number of applications from unaccompanied minors, with 4,925, 23 per cent of the EU total.

It was followed by the Netherlands with 3,615, Spain with 3,210, Greece with 3,030 and Belgium with 1,615.

Eurostat said the figures refer to first-time asylum applicants only, meaning non-EU citizens who lodged an application for international protection in an EU country for the first time.

Asylum applications are country-specific, meaning a person may still be recorded as a first-time applicant in another member state if they apply there for the first time.