Overview of statistical practice (1)
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) publishes monthly statistical reports (Aktuelle Zahlen zu Asyl) with information on applications and first instance decisions for main nationalities. More detailed information is provided in the monthly Asylgeschäftsstatistik and in other BAMF publications (Bundesamt in Zahlen).[1] Furthermore, detailed statistics can be found in responses to information requests which are regularly submitted by German members of parliament.
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: figures for 2023
| Applicants in 2023 | Pending at
end of 2023 |
Total decisions in 2023 (1) | Total in merit decisions | Total negative decisions (2) | In merit rejection | Refugee status[2] | Subsidiary protection | Humanitarian protection (removal ban) | ||
| Total | 351,915 | 239,614 | 261,601 | 197,055 | 126,324 | 61,778 | 42,525 | 71,290 | 61,778 | |
| Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers | ||||||||||
| Syria | 104,561 | 56,682 | 88,477 | 78,049 | 10,483 | 55 | 10,614 | 67,044 | 336 | |
| Türkiye | 62,624 | 57,346 | 24,131 | 17,704 | 20,982 | 14,555 | 2,896 | 200 | 53 | |
| Afghanistan | 53,582 | 39,000 | 46,373 | 35,936 | 10,915 | 478 | 16,254 | 1,115 | 18,089 | |
| Iraq | 12,360 | 9,535 | 12,943 | 9,745 | 9,712 | 6,514 | 2,140 | 491 | 600 | |
| Iran | 10,206 | 8,766 | 6,894 | 4,481 | 4,857 | 2,444 | 1,818 | 149 | 70 | |
| Georgia | 9,399 | 3,012 | 10,038 | 7,995 | 10,007 | 7,964 | 8 | 2 | 21 | |
| Russia | 9,028 | 5,703 | 5,246 | 1,658 | 4,766 | 1,178 | 368 | 104 | 8 | |
| North Macedonia | 5,999 | 1,349 | 6,864 | 3,353 | 6,863 | 3,352 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Somalia | 5,773 | 5,004 | 3,963 | 3,268 | 897 | 202 | 1,828 | 324 | 914 | |
| undetermined[3] | 4,299 | 3,315 | 3,673 | 2,772 | 1,572 | 671 | 1,638 | 397 | 66 | |
Source: BAMF, Asylgeschäftsstatistik (01-12/23), available in German at: https://bit.ly/42Qi7xq.
Note 1: Statistics on decisions cover the decisions taken throughout the year, regardless of whether they concern applications lodged that year or in previous years.
Note 2: This includes both rejections based on the merit of the application and inadmissibility decisions or other formal reasons for not granting protection.
In addition to refugee status and subsidiary protection, applicants can be issued two types of national protection statuses: on the one hand, constitutional asylum, which gives rise to the same rights as the recognition of refugee status (the figures on refugee status thus include constitutional asylum),[4] and on the other hand, a ‘removal ban’ for compelling humanitarian reasons (explained briefly under Short overview of the asylum procedure). Note that this includes only removal bans issued by the BAMF, and not by immigration authorities. The BAMF only examines removal bans due to the situation in the country of origin, whereas immigration authorities can issue removal bans based on the situation of the applicant in Germany (e.g. medical reasons, family unity etc).
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: rates for 2023
| Overall rejection rate (2) | In merit rejection rate (1) | Overall protection rate (2) | In merit protection rate (1) | Refugee rate[5] (1) | Subsidiary
protection rate (1) |
Humanitarian
protection (removal ban) rate (1) |
|
| Total | 23.6% | 31.4% | 51.7% | 68.6% | 21.6% | 36.2% | 10.9% |
| Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers | |||||||
| Syria | 0.1% | 0.1% | 88.2% | 99.9% | 13.6% | 85.9% | 0.4% |
| Turkey | 60.3% | 82.2% | 13.0% | 17.8% | 16.4% | 1.1% | 0.3% |
| Afghanistan | 1.0% | 1.3% | 76.5% | 98.7% | 45.2% | 3.1% | 50.3% |
| Iraq | 50.3% | 66.8% | 25.0% | 33.2% | 22.0% | 5.0% | 6.2% |
| Iran | 35.5% | 54.5% | 29.5% | 45.5% | 40.6% | 3.3% | 1.6% |
| Georgia | 79.3% | 99.6% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.3% |
| Russia | 22.5% | 71.0% | 9.1% | 29.0% | 22.2% | 6.3% | 0.5% |
| North Macedonia | 48.8% | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Somalia | 5.1% | 6.2% | 77.4% | 93.8% | 55.9% | 9.9% | 28.0% |
| undetermined[6] | 18.3% | 24.2% | 57.2% | 75.8% | 59.1% | 14.3% | 2.4% |
Source of the percentages: BAMF, Asylgeschäftsstatistik (01-12/23), available in German at https://bit.ly/42Qi7xq.
Note 1: These rates are calculated based on in merit decisions only, excluding non in merit rejections.
Note 2: these rates are calculated based on total decisions. For calculation of these percentages, formal decisions are counted as neither protection nor rejection decisions, but as a separate category.
With the exception of columns 1 and 3, the figures presented in the table above represent both the “adjusted protection rates” (bereinigte Schutzquoten) based only on merit-based decisions. The overall protection and rejection rate (colums 1 and 3) also include ‘formal decisions’. There were 64,546 ‘formal decisions’ in 2023, in which the applications were rejected as inadmissible or in which the asylum procedure was terminated for other reasons. In all these cases, the substance of the case was not examined by the asylum authorities. Official statistics usually only represent the ‘overall protection rate’ (Gesamtschutzquoten), which is determined by including the formal decisions. The overall protection rates for 2023 are:
- Refugee rate (incl. constitutional asylum): 16.3%,
- Subsidiary protection rate: 27.3%,
- ‘Removal ban’: 8.2%,
- Rejection: 23.6%,
- Formal decisions: 24.7%.[7]
Gender/age breakdown of the total number of applicants: 2023 (first applications only)
| Adults | Children | ||
| all | Among them unaccompanied | ||
| Number | 225,603 | 103,517 | 15,269 |
| Percentage | 68.5% | 31.5% | 4.6% of first-time applicants |
| Men | Women | |
| Number | 235,465 | 93,655 |
| Percentage | 71.5% | 28.5% |
Source: BAMF, Aktuelle Zahlen, December 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/4aKHsLn, 8, and BAMF, Das Bundesamt in Zahlen, 8 March 2023, available in German at: https://tinyurl.com/2d97wc7y.
Note: The gender breakdown (Men/Women) applies to all applicants, not only adults.
First instance and appeal decision rates: 2023 (‘adjusted decision rates’, excluding formal decisions)
It should be noted that, during the same year, the first instance and appeal authorities handle different caseloads. Thus, the decisions below do not concern the same applicants.
| First instance (whole of 2023) | Appeal (January – August 2023) | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of decisions | 261,601 | 61,207 | ||
| Total number of in-merit decisions | 197,055 | 100% | 23,129 | 100% |
| Positive decisions (in merit) | 135,277 | 68.6% | 5,881 | 25.4% |
|
41,525 | 21.6% | 2,616 | 11.3% |
|
71,290 | 36.2% | 736 | 3.2% |
|
21,462 | 10.9% | 2,529 | 10.9% |
| Negative decisions (in merit) | 61,778 | 31.4% | 17,248 | 74.6% |
Source: BAMF, Asylgeschäftsstatistik (01-12/23), available in German at https://bit.ly/42Qi7xq and BAMF Federal Government, Response to parliamentary question by The Left, 20/9933, 28 December 2023, available in German at: https://bit.ly/42NJDMa, 16.a3.
[1] BAMF, Asylzahlen, available in German at: https://bit.ly/4aUtV5n.
[2] These include decisions on constitutional asylum.
[3] The category ‘undetermined’ (ungeklärt) applies in most cases to persons who have lived in a country for a long time without having the nationality of this country, such as Palestinian refugees having lived in Syria before arriving in Germany. According to the BAMF, their asylum applications are treated with regard to the situation in the country of residence. The category further applies in cases where the information on the country of origin indicated by the applicant is disproven or deemed not credible by the BAMF, and where no other country of origin can be established. See Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Knapp 500 Asylbewerber mit unbekannter Herkunft, 23 May 2021, available in German at: http://bit.ly/40ARLNz.
[4] Constitutional asylum was granted in 1,937 cases in 2022.
[5] These include decisions on constitutional asylum.
[6] The category ‘undetermined’ (ungeklärt) applies in most cases to persons who have lived in a country for a long time without having the nationality of this country, such as Palestinian refugees having lived in Syria before arriving in Germany. According to the BAMF, their asylum applications are treated with regard to the situation in the country of residence. The category further applies in cases where the information on the country of origin indicated by the applicant is disproven or deemed not credible by the BAMF, and where no other country of origin can be established. See Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Knapp 500 Asylbewerber mit unbekannter Herkunft, 23 May 2021, available in German at: http://bit.ly/40ARLNz.
[7] BAMF, Aktuelle Zahlen, December 2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3TDLUEZ, 11.