First-time asylum applications in Germany fell significantly in the first half of 2026, even as the approval rate for applicants increased, new official data shows.
The number of new asylum applications in Germany dropped sharply in the first half of 2026, even as the proportion of applicants actually granted protection rose.
That's according to new official figures by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), released for the first six months of 2026.
39,646 people submitted first-time asylum applications between January and June 2026, down from 61,336 during the same period last year, the BAMF data showed when they first published them in early July. At that time, they wrote that due to the introduction of the new Common European Asylum System (CEAS) in early June, definitions had changed with pending cases and so comparisons with previous time periods were not yet possibl
Meanwhile, the overall protection rate increased to 47.4 percent in the first six months of the year, up from 37.5 percent in 2025, according to the German press agency dpa, which published an article on September 13 saying that BAMF had now "corrected its statistics". The news agency dpa added that "the adjusted rate [for 2025] excludes formal decisions where the asylum application is not substantively examined. This means that asylum procedures for which another EU country is responsible are also not included."
The asylum applications of families were particularly successful, with protection granted in more than 21,000 cases in the first half of the year, or roughly 46 percent of positive decisions.
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Protection rate for Afghans at nearly 90 percent
Afghanistan remained the leading country of origin for asylum seekers during this period, according to the BAMF data. More than 20,000 Afghans applied for asylum in the first half of the year, just over 10,000 of those as a first application. A few other nationalities also enjoyed relatively high protection rates, reported dpa, namely those from Algeria, Guinea, Somalia and Eritrea.
The protection rate for Afghan nationals reached 89.3 percent, reported dpa.
One of the drivers for this protection rate seems to have been a 2024 European Court of Justice ruling establishing that Afghan women are systematically entitled to protection due to gender-based persecution carried out by the Taliban.
Nearly 95 percent of asylum decisions concerning Afghan women resulted in positive protection outcomes.
Additionally, the government reported that BAMF has filed just three criminal complaints since February 2024 under a rule targeting false or incomplete statements in asylum procedures.
with dpa