Berlin, Germany. Germany granted citizenship to a record 332,500 people in 2025, up 14% from the previous year, according to data released by the Federal Statistics Office on Wednesday. Syrians remained the largest single group of new citizens for the fifth consecutive year.
Naturalisation trends
One in five people naturalised in 2025 was Syrian. However, the number of Syrians gaining German citizenship fell by 21% compared with 2024, when many refugees who arrived in 2015 and 2016 became eligible for naturalisation.
Impact of legal reforms
The Federal Statistics Office attributed the overall increase in naturalisations to reforms introduced in June 2024. The changes reduced the residency requirement for naturalisation from eight years to five and allowed individuals to hold dual citizenship.
Largest groups by nationality
After Syrians, the largest groups to naturalise were Turks, who made up 10% of the total with 34,100 people, and Russians, who accounted for 6% with 19,700 people.
Sharp increases among other groups
Strong year-on-year growth was recorded among Bosnians, whose number rose 126% to 8,800, Americans, up 100% to 6,600, and Albanians, up 97% to 6,100.
Restitution cases
The number of people naturalised under restitution laws, which restore citizenship to individuals and their descendants stripped of it by Nazi Germany, increased by 61% to 12,000.
