Last year, Germany's net migration stood at 235,000, according to the German Economic Institute (IW). In 2023, net immigration still stood at nearly three times that number, totalling 663,000 people.

This notable downward trend is mainly attributed to fewer asylum seekers making their way to Germany as well as the growing return of workers from other EU member states to their home countries, according to the study. Also, IW found that fewer people have been making their way to Germany from non-EU countries in the Balkans.

"With the exception of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the level has not been this low since 2010," the IW study stated, highlighting that prior to increasing migration flows over the past 15 years, Germany's net migration numbers stood at merely tens of thousands of people.

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Drop in new asylum applications

Most notably, the total number of fresh asylum cases fell from 329,000 in 2023 to 113,000 in 2025.

The IW study surmises that part of the reason for this sharp fall in initial asylum applications was due to the end of the civil war in Syria, when the country's longterm ruler Bashar al-Assad fell from power in late 2024.

However, the report found that this phenomenon is mostly due to a sharp decline in arrivals from Syria rather than a sudden increase in returnees.

Another reason for this was found to be the temporary stop on family reunifications introduced by the government last year, severely limiting the number of people reaching Germany this way.

At the same time, the report stated that more people from other EU countries have also been leaving Germany in the past two years, after spending significant amounts of time living and working in the country.

Additionally, the number of Germans moving abroad — including to other EU states — has also risen, further contributing to this decline in the net migration rate as a considerable demographic dimension, the study found.

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Skilled labor unaffected — for now

According to IW, Germany has also seen increases in labor and education-related immigration from non-European countries — a goal long pursued by successive governments.

IW said that recent policies introduced to tighten Germany's grip on overall immigration were not affecting skilled immigrants; however, the institute also warned that a stagnating economy and growing unemployment numbers in Germany could lead to these legal immigration pathways also being closed in the future in a bid to fill empty vacancies rather with people who are already in Germany.

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According to IW, vacancies should be filled with those who already have the training and experience in areas of shortages — and not by people who might still need to up-skill to qualify for those positions, which in some instances could take years.

"Germany's attractive position as a place to live and work for skilled workers should be further strengthened or at least maintained," the IW report said, adding that the introduction of faster visa procedures would help facilitate this.

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