At the close of 2024, approximately 3.3 million individuals were registered as asylum seekers in the Central Register of Foreigners (AZR) in Germany, according to data released Monday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). This figure represents an increase of roughly 132,000, or 4.1 percent, compared to the previous year. These individuals are foreign nationals present in Germany based on legal, humanitarian, or political grounds.
The majority, around 2.7 million individuals (2.5 million in 2023), held humanitarian residence titles at the year’s end, signifying recognized protection status. A further 427,000 individuals (455,000 in 2023) remained with pending asylum applications, awaiting final decisions. A total of 171,000 asylum seekers were registered with rejected protection status, making them subject to deportation (189,000 in 2023). This group included 136,000 individuals with a tolerated stay, a figure which has been steadily decreasing.
The decline in tolerated stays is largely attributable to the introduction of a new residence law at the end of 2022, which allows individuals with tolerated stays of at least five years to apply for an 18-month residence permit offering opportunities for integration, potentially leading to a permanent residency perspective. Those granted this permit are no longer counted as asylum seekers.
The largest groups of asylum seekers, numbering almost 1.5 million each, originate from Asia and Europe respectively. This includes 1.099 million Ukrainians (+12.5 percent compared to the prior year), 713,000 Syrians (+0.2 percent), 348,000 Afghans (+7.7 percent), 190,000 Iraqis (-5.2 percent) and 157,000 Turks (+3.7 percent). These five nationalities collectively account for nearly three-quarters of all registered asylum seekers. Significant numbers also originate from Africa (277,000, predominantly from East Africa; +2.3 percent) and the Americas (22,000, 87 percent from South America; +24.0 percent).
Notable increases were observed in asylum seekers from Colombia (+45.7 percent to 9,000) and Venezuela (+22.7 percent to 9,000), significantly influencing humanitarian migration from South America. Conversely, there was a significant decrease in Georgian asylum seekers (-23.5 percent to 15,000), partly due to a migration agreement between Germany and Georgia designating Georgia as a safe country of origin, enabling faster asylum processing and quicker termination of stays for rejected applicants.
Ukraine remains the primary country of origin for new asylum seekers arriving in Germany, with 138,000 initial entries, almost three times the number from Syria (49,000).
As of the end of 2024, the average age of asylum seekers was approximately 32 years, having resided in Germany for roughly 6.5 years. Women comprise 45 percent of the total, while 27 percent are children and adolescents under the age of 18. Demographic profiles vary considerably based on nationality; for example, Ukrainian asylum seekers are predominantly female (59 percent) with an average age of 35.
Conversely, Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers are predominantly male (64 percent and 65 percent respectively) and comparatively younger, with average ages of 28 and 27 years old. Syrian asylum seekers have a higher proportion of minors (32 percent) compared to the overall average, while Ukrainian asylum seekers’ minor proportion mirrors the national average.
The average length of stay in Germany is 2.8 years for Ukrainian asylum seekers (many of whom arrived following the start of the Russian invasion in 2022). Syrian and Afghan asylum seekers have spent an average of over six years, while Iraqis and Turks average more than eight years.
Among individuals with corresponding nationalities living in Germany, asylum seekers comprise a significant proportion, including 82 percent of Ukrainians, 73 percent of Syrians and 79 percent of Afghans. This contrasts with only 10 percent of the Turkish population in Germany, a figure which has more than doubled in recent years.
Regional differences are also evident. With a comparatively higher proportion of foreign nationals in West Germany (15.7 percent) compared to East Germany (7.6 percent, excluding Berlin), asylum seekers represent a comparatively larger share of migration in the eastern ‘federal states’-Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saxony-Anhalt (42 percent and 39 percent respectively)-than in the national average (24 percent). The proportion of asylum seekers is lower in states like Bavaria (17 percent), Baden-Württemberg (18 percent) and Berlin (20 percent).
