Brussels, Belgium. The number of immigrants living in the European Union rose to a record 64.2 million in 2025, up about 2.1 million from the previous year, a report published on Wednesday said.
Record level and long-term comparison
The report by the Centre for Research and Analysis on Migration at RFBerlin said the total compares with 40 million in 2010, citing data from Eurostat and the U.N. Refugee Agency.
Germany remains largest host, Spain posts fastest growth
Germany remained the EU’s biggest host of foreign-born people at nearly 18 million, with 72% of them of working age, the report said. Spain recorded the fastest recent growth, adding about 700,000 to bring its foreign-born population to 9.5 million.
Tommaso Frattini, one of the report’s authors, said Germany remains the main destination for migrants in Europe in absolute terms and, to a significant extent, relative to its population.
Uneven patterns and concentration of asylum claims
Migration patterns were uneven across the bloc, with Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus facing higher shares of immigrants relative to their population size, the study said.
Asylum claims were also concentrated, with Spain, Italy, France and Germany accounting for nearly three-quarters of all applications, the report said. Germany hosted the largest number of refugees overall, at 2.7 million.
What do you think the figures suggest about how migration is distributed across EU member states?