Refugee Numbers in Germany Decline Slightly in 2025

The number of refugees living in Germany declined slightly over the past year, according to new data released by the German government.

As of December 31, around 3.53 million people seeking protection were residing in Germany. The figures were disclosed in a government response to a parliamentary inquiry submitted by the Left Party.

Among those currently living in the country are approximately 1.33 million refugees who fled the war in Ukraine, as well as about 707,000 individuals recognized as refugees under the Geneva Refugee Convention.

A year earlier, Germany hosted around 3.54 million refugees, indicating a modest decrease of roughly 17,000 people. The government said the decline reflects a combination of factors, including deaths, voluntary departures, deportations and refugees obtaining German citizenship, which together outpaced the number of new arrivals seeking protection.

Clara Bünger, a domestic policy expert from the Left Party, argued that the drop in refugee numbers should not be viewed positively. She noted that increasingly fortified external borders of the European Union are making it harder for people in need of protection to enter the bloc.

Under EU rules introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian war refugees are allowed to enter and reside in EU countries without going through the standard asylum process and are granted the right to work. This temporary protection framework is currently set to remain in place until March 2027.

Ukraine also relaxed travel restrictions for young men up to the age of 22 in late August, allowing them to leave the country despite the ongoing war with Russia. As a result, Germany recorded a noticeable increase in arrivals of young Ukrainians in September and October.

According to German government data, of the 30,882 Ukrainians who entered Germany in September, 10,307 were between 18 and 22 years old.

However, arrivals declined significantly in the following months. In December, German authorities registered 6,198 Ukrainian arrivals, including 1,489 individuals in that same age group.