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The number of immigrants living in the European Union reached a record 64.2 million in 2025, about 2.1 million more than a year earlier, according to a Reuters report published by Japan Today citing a new study from RFBerlin’s Centre for Research and Analysis on Migration. The report said the total was about 40 million in 2010, underscoring how sharply the bloc’s foreign-born population has grown over the past 15 years.
Key developments
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Germany remained the EU’s biggest host of foreign-born residents at nearly 18 million, according to the study summary carried by Reuters. It also said roughly 72% of that population was of working age. Separately, UNHCR’s Germany profile lists the country as hosting 2.7 million registered refugees at the end of 2024, reinforcing Germany’s central role in the bloc’s migration picture.
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Spain posted the fastest recent growth, adding about 700,000 foreign-born residents to reach 9.5 million. The Reuters summary did not break down the reasons behind that increase, but it identified Spain as one of the countries where asylum claims are heavily concentrated.
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The study said migration patterns remain uneven across the bloc, with Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus carrying especially high immigrant shares relative to their population size. That matches the direction of Eurostat’s latest immigration data, which showed Malta, Cyprus and Luxembourg among the highest immigration rates per 1,000 residents in 2024.
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Asylum applications were also concentrated in a small group of member states. Reuters said Spain, Italy, France and Germany accounted for nearly three-quarters of all claims cited in the study, while Germany hosted the largest number of refugees overall.
What to watch
The next key update is fuller detail on the underlying study. Reuters said the estimate draws on Eurostat and U.N. Refugee Agency data, but the short report does not yet show a full country-by-country breakdown or explain how much of the 2025 increase came from labor migration, family reunification, intra-EU movement or protection-related arrivals.
Eurostat has already reported that the EU received 4.2 million immigrants from non-EU countries in 2024, along with 1.5 million people moving between EU countries. When updated tables and methodology are published, they should clarify whether the 2025 rise was driven mainly by a few large destination countries or reflected broader growth across the bloc.
Sources
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