The Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum (BFA) published its annual balance for 2024 and recorded the lowest number of asylum applications since 2020, with 25,360 asylum applications registered in 2024. This was 60% less applications compared to the year 2023.
The BFA made 38,836 decisions in the same reference period, reducing the number of pending cases by 42%. At the end of the year 2024, there were 16,335 asylum procedures still pending at first instance.
The average duration of proceedings in 2024 was around 7.8 months. 1,389 accelerated procedures (average procedure duration 32.5 days) were carried out for applicants from safe countries of origin or from countries with a low probability of recognition, especially from Morocco, Türkiye and India.
A total of 13,568 removals took place in 2024 , with the number of forced returns being higher than the number of voluntary departures for the first time since 2019.
The BFA continues to place a particular focus on offenders when returning persons: in 2023, around 45% of all people who were forcibly removed from the country had at least one criminal conviction.
- Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum | Bundesamt für Fremdenwesen und Asyl (16 June, 2025), BFA-Jahresbilanz 2024: Neuer Höchstwert bei Ausreisen und niedrigste Asylantragszahlen seit 2020 [BFA annual balance sheet 2024: New record number of departures and lowest number of asylum applications since 2020],