In February 2026, 46 420 first-time asylum applicants (non-EU citizens) applied for international protection in EU countries, marking a 21% decrease compared with February 2025 (59 080) and a 9% decline compared with January 2026 (51 160).

There were also 9 080 subsequent applicants, representing a 12% increase compared with February 2025 (8 090) and a 4% decrease compared with January 2026 (9 500).

This information comes from monthly asylum data published by Eurostat today.

Source dataset: migr_asyappctzm

Largest group of asylum seekers from Venezuela

In February 2026, Venezuelans were the largest group of people seeking asylum (6 835 first-time applicants), followed by Afghans (4 325), Bangladeshis (3 450) and Egyptians (1 815).

Italy, Spain, France and Germany received 77% of first-time applicants
Italy (10 560), Spain (10 410), France (7 900) and Germany (6 985) received the highest number of first-time asylum applicants, accounting for 77% of all first-time applicants in the EU.

Greece with the highest number of applicants relative to population

There were 10.3 first-time asylum applicants per hundred thousand people in the EU in February 2026. Compared with the population of each EU country (on 1 January 2025), the highest rates of first-time applicants were recorded in Greece (34.3), ahead of Spain (21.2) and Ireland (18.4).

1.20 million pending applications in the EU

There were 1.20 million applications in the EU awaiting decisions at the end of February 2026, an increase of 1% compared with the previous month (1.19 million). Compared with the end of February 2025 (1.25 million), this represented a decrease of 4%.

At the end of February 2026, Germany (291 245) reported the highest number of pending applications, ahead of Spain (251 140) and Italy (237 485; low reliability).

1 015 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum

Based on available data, in February 2026, 1 015 unaccompanied minors applied for asylum for the first time in the EU. The highest numbers of unaccompanied minors came from Somalia (215), Venezuela (165), Afghanistan (105), Egypt (80) and Guinea (55).

Source dataset: migr_asyumactm

The EU countries that received the highest number of asylum applications from unaccompanied minors were Germany (255), Spain (190), the Netherlands and France (both 130) and Greece (115).