The European Migration Network (EMN) has published the Asylum and Migration Overview (AMO) 2025, providing a comprehensive overview of the main legal, policy and operational developments in asylum and migration across EMN Member and Observer Countries, including relevant statistics, from January to December 2025.
Main asylum and migration trends
The share of third-country nationals in the total population varied across EMN Member Countries and Norway on 1 January 2025. In most countries, third-country nationals represented between 5% and 10% of the population, while Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia (including recognised non-citizens), Luxembourg and Spain recorded shares of 10% or more. Irregular arrivals to the EU and first-time applications for international protection continued to decrease in 2025, with 180 211 irregular border crossings detected at the EU’s external borders, 25% fewer than in 2024. First-time asylum applications also fell from 2024, from 912 425 in 2024 to 669 710 in 2025, a decrease of 27%.
At the same time, the number of Schengen uniform short-stay visas issued in the EU and Norway increased to more than 9.5 million in 2025, compared to nearly 9.3 million in 2024.
While statistical data on legal migration for 2025 were not yet available at the time of publication, the report highlights continued policy efforts to open targeted legal migration pathways for highly qualified workers, students and other talent groups, while strengthening safeguards against misuse. It also outlines developments in visa policy, including the revision of the visa suspension mechanism, targeted visa restrictions and changes to visa facilitation arrangements.
Key policy and operational developments
Legal migration
Reflecting labour market needs and increasing global competition for talent, many countries introduced targeted measures to attract highly qualified workers, students, researchers and other talent groups. At the same time, countries strengthened safeguards against misuse of legal migration pathways and introduced tighter controls on admission, stay and citizenship in response to security concerns, irregular migration and secondary movements.
Asylum and migration management
Managing strain on asylum and reception systems also remained a key priority during 2025. Countries introduced measures to improve the efficiency of asylum procedures, strengthen the identification of unfounded applications and adapt reception systems to respond to fluctuating demand and capacity pressures.
2025 also marked the 40th anniversary of the Schengen Agreement and the full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area. The launch of the Entry/Exit System (EES) in October 2025 represented a major milestone in the modernisation of external border management, while preparations continued for the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
Digitalisation remained a strong cross-cutting trend throughout 2025, supporting the modernisation of asylum and migration systems and improving efficiency, streamlining administrative processes and enhancing service delivery. National developments spanned multiple policy areas, including legal migration, integration, international protection, border management and return, including measures supporting the implementation of large-scale EU information technology systems.
Please also find below the Statistical Annex which has been developed in cooperation with Eurostat.