Declining rates of migration to Europe have hit a new landmark, as the EU’s asylum agency (EUAA) found asylum applications to have dropped to the lowest numbers since 2021.
Despite frequent references to a migration “invasion,” especially in the aftermath of a mass-arrival episode in Spain’s African enclave of Ceuta, asylum applications lodged in the first half of 2026 have dropped 17 percent from the same period in 2025.
According to an EUAA report, published on Thursday (10 September), EU countries, together with Norway and Switzerland, received 332,000 applications for international protection from January to June 2026.
The number of applications had also fallen by 19 percent from 2024 to 2025, signalling a general downward trend since the pandemic years.
This decrease reflects an amelioration of the situation in Syria, as well as EU member state policy and coordination with countries of origin.
