Fewer asylum requests and more following family members in 2025

© ANP / Flip Franssen
The Netherlands received 24.1 thousand first-time asylum applications in 2025, down by 8 thousand from 2024. Over the same period, a total of 16.5 thousand following family members arrived in the Netherlands, the highest number since these figures were first recorded in 2013. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of the latest figures from the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).

First-time asylum requests
JaarQ1 (x 1,000)Q2 (x 1,000)Q3 (x 1,000)Q4 (x 1,000)
20132.112.012.533.20
20143.267.196.994.39
20152.446.3214.7519.60
20165.583.085.195.52
20174.033.804.373.96
20184.164.326.215.84
20195.385.195.876.10
20204.471.264.103.90
20212.723.348.829.87
20226.457.3311.0210.75
20236.947.9510.5112.98
20249.017.768.187.24
20254.535.336.747.55

For the second year in a row, fewer asylum applications were received from Syrian nationals. The number of applications in 2025 was 3.3 thousand, 71 percent fewer than a year earlier (11.5 thousand). Despite this decrease, more applications were received from Syrian nationals than any other nationality. The number of applications from people with Eritrean nationality doubled from 1.5 thousand in 2024 to 3.1 thousand in 2025. They were the second largest group of applicants by nationality, after Syrians.

People with Iraqi nationality filed 575 asylum applications, 1.6 thousand fewer than a year earlier. In the previous years, the number of applications from this group had been increasing, reaching 2.2 thousand in 2024.

First-time asylum requests, main nationalities
JaarKwartaalSyrian (x 1,000)Eritrean (x 1,000)Turkish (x 1,000)Iraqi (x 1,000)Other (x 1,000)
2021Q10.900.110.090.072.45
2021Q21.020.180.380.062.73
2021Q32.550.211.540.136.95
2021Q43.920.280.460.498.66
2022Q11.630.250.360.145.71
2022Q22.250.260.700.116.27
2022Q34.600.470.940.179.45
2022Q44.190.400.700.269.39
2023Q11.560.390.480.195.90
2023Q22.380.510.510.416.53
2023Q34.320.750.880.248.65
2023Q44.780.711.010.6610.60
2024Q12.910.340.501.196.99
2024Q22.720.360.390.686.33
2024Q33.300.470.520.207.00
2024Q42.600.300.470.166.32
2025Q10.940.240.330.113.86
2025Q20.601.180.310.153.70
2025Q30.860.990.420.165.17
2025Q40.890.740.430.166.23

More asylum seekers in Q4 2025

In the fourth quarter of 2025, 7.5 thousand people applied for asylum for the first time, which was a year-on-year increase of 4 percent. The second half of the year saw the most applications: nearly 60 percent.

Highest number of following family members since 2013

A total of 16.5 thousand following family members came to the Netherlands in 2025, which was 4.6 thousand more than the previous year. That was the highest number recorded since 2013. 12.1 thousand following family members [explanation] came from Syria in 2025, which was nearly three-quarters of the total, and 39 percent more than in 2024.

A further 1.5 thousand following family members came from Yemen, up 76 percent from a year earlier.

Following family members
JaarQ1 (x 1,000)Q2 (x 1,000)Q3 (x 1,000)Q4 (x 1,000)
20130.800.810.981.06
20140.960.881.422.10
20151.842.815.223.98
20161.911.312.616.00
20175.304.102.262.84
20182.141.971.281.07
20190.850.891.201.25
20201.070.260.861.68
20211.512.602.783.23
20222.573.173.651.55
20231.912.632.602.99
20243.102.832.663.29
20253.753.764.684.29