Significant Decline in Asylum Seeker Numbers - Thuringia Sees Record-Low Asylum Applications in 2025—But Where Are the Refugees Going?
Asylum applications in Thuringia have plummeted in 2025, reaching unprecedented lows since 2020, excluding the pandemic year. By September 30, around 2,100 refugees were registered, a significant drop from previous years. Ukrainian refugees, who can enter Germany visa-free, are not included in these figures.
In 2023, nearly 6,000 asylum seekers were recorded in Thuringia during the same period. This number decreased to around 4,000 in 2024 and further to about 2,400 in 2019. The most recent figures, from the first three quarters of 2025, show a further decline to around 2,100.
Thuringia’s Minister for Migration, Beate Meißner, welcomes this sharp decline. She attributes it to various factors, including improved conditions in some countries of origin and stricter German asylum policies. The majority of applicants in 2025 have come from Afghanistan, Syria, and Turkey.
The decrease in asylum applications in Thuringia is notable, with around 2,100 refugees registered in the first three quarters of 2025. While Ukrainian refugees are not included in these figures, nationwide, about 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees were registered in Germany by late September 2025. The exact number of Ukrainian refugees in Thuringia since late summer 2025 is not yet publicly available.
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