Migration in EU - Statistics and Facts

The freedom of movement of people is one of the fundamental pillars of the European Union, enshrined in Article 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. Citizens of an EU country are free to live in any other member state for up to three months without any conditions on their remaining in that country, after which they must show that they are employed, enrolled in education, or have sufficient resources to support themselves while living in the country. In effect, this means that EU citizens can move freely between EU countries, with those countries that are in the Schengen Area not even requiring other EU citizens to pass through any border control (as of 2023, only Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, and Romania are not Schengen members). The situation of these intra-EU migrants stands in stark contrast to migrants from outside of the EU, who need to apply for a visa permit to be able to reside in any EU member state. Additionally, non-EU migrants may enter the EU as asylum seekers, as millions have done during the Syrian Civil War (since 2011) and Russia-Ukraine War (since 2022), along with other conflicts in Europe’s neighborhood.

The European Refugee Crisis

In 2015 there were almost 1.3 million applications for asylum in the European Union, followed by 1.22 million in 2016. By comparison, in 2014, there were around 594,000 and between 2017 and 2021 there have never been more than 700,000 applications in a single year. The spike in asylum applications in 2015 and 2016 had various causes but the main reason was the Syrian Civil War. In 2014, estimates suggest that around 7.6 million Syrians were displaced as a result of the conflict, followed by 6.6 million in 2015. Syrian refugees made the most asylum applications in this year, and as of 2021 were still the most common nationality among applicants, followed by Afghans and Iraqis. The journey to get to the European Union to apply for asylum is a long and dangerous one for many of these refugees. At the height of the crisis in 2015 over 1.8 million illegal entries were detected at the borders of the European Union. The most common route to the EU in this year was via the Eastern Mediterranean, which saw 885,386 illegal border attempts. Illegal migration via this route decreased significantly following a deal between the EU and Turkey in 2016. By 2017, most crossings arrived via the Central Mediterranean route (Italy and Malta) with 118,962 people using the route that year. Although the number of people attempting to cross the Mediterranean has fallen in the years since then, the crossing still claims many lives, with approximately 336 people reported dead or missing in September 2022 alone.

War in Ukraine

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to huge numbers of Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn homeland. As of November 2022, approximately 14.9 million border crossings from Ukraine have been reported, alongside 7.4 million border crossings into Ukraine. The most common destination for Ukrainean refugees in 2022 has been Poland, which has seen over 7.5 million people enter the country from Ukraine. Due to this Poland is the largest recipient of finanical aid from the European Union for countries hosting refugees from Ukraine. With so much media focus on armed conflicts and economic migration, one could easily forget that those are not the only reasons for migration to Europe. According to Italian sources other important reasons for migration for individuals from non-EU countries in 2020 included studies, family, and others, such as religion or health. The Netherlands alone saw its international student community more than triple between 2006 and 2021, from roughly 31,500 in 2007 to over 115,000 in 2021.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Aug 31, 2023

Key insights

Largest group of immigrants to the Netherlands
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Number of asylum applications in Sweden
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