Bucharest, July 12, 2025 – RBJ – Last year, for the first time in five years, more Romanians returned from Germany than left. Official data from Destatis (Germany’s Federal Statistical Office) shows a net deficit of 3,446 Romanians: 187,705 Romanian departures compared to 184,259 arrivals, marking a dramatic reversal compared to previous years, when Romania consistently recorded annual surpluses of 20,000-43,000 emigrants.
After Ukrainian emigrants, numbering 233,029 people (although down from the peak of over 1 million in 2022), Romanians were the second largest nationality of emigrants arriving in Germany last year (184,259 people). They are followed by Syrians (99,927), Turks (78,854) and Poles (76,320).
In total, Germany recorded 1,694,192 newcomers in 2024 and 1,264,009 departures, which means a net influx of 430,183 people, Destatis (Federal Statistical Office) also shows.
It is not only Romanians who are recording the first deficit in recent years. Poles also have a deficit of 12,068 people, while Bulgarians have a similar deficit (-8,826), Greeks 1,206, and Hungarians 407. Croatians are in their second consecutive year of deficit, with 9,041 people, after in 2023 it was 3,637.
Among Western European nations, Spain (+4,933), Portugal (+1,494), Italy (+218) and France (+603) continue to migrate net to Germany.
At the same time, at the end of 2024, approximately 3.3 million people from Germany were registered as asylum seekers in the Central Register of Foreigners (AZR).
By far the largest number of asylum seekers, with almost 1.5 million each, came from Asia and Europe as of 31 December 2024. In addition to Ukrainians (1,099,000; +12.5% compared to the previous year), the majority of asylum seekers were Syrians (713,000; +0.2%), Afghans (348,000; +7.7%), Iraqis (190,000; -5.2%) and Turks (157,000; +3.7%). Together, these five nationalities accounted for almost three quarters of all asylum seekers. However, people from Africa (277,000, of whom around half were from East Africa; +2.3%) and the Americas (22,000, of whom 87% were from South America; +24.0%) also sought protection in Germany against threats of violence or persecution, or who were subjected to them.
