Migration is constantly increasing: across the EU, the number of immigrants among the total population is around 14 percent, and in Austria it is even much higher.
There are now 64.2 million people living in the EU who were born abroad – more than ever before: This is shown by a new report from the Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin), which was created based on data from the EU statistics office Eurostat and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). From 2024 to 2025, the number of migrants increased by 2.1 million, which corresponds to growth of 3.4 percent.
Even more people – 2.6 million – immigrated to Europe the year before. Since 2010, when the number of immigrants in the EU totaled 40 million, statisticians have recorded continuous growth, with upward swings during the 2015 refugee crisis and a leveling off during the Corona period. The start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022 marks the beginning of a steep increase that continues to this day: In December 2025, 4.35 million Ukrainians were living in the EU with temporary protection status.
Although the reason for immigration to Europe – escape, family reasons, job, etc. – does not play a role in the overall figures of the study, there are considerable differences between the countries of the EU-27: Germany stands out as the largest target country with 18 million residents born abroad, which is 80 percent more than in 2010 (10 million).
Most recently, the immigrant community in Austria’s largest neighboring country with 300,000 people no longer grew as strongly from 2024 to 2025 – in complete contrast to Spain, which recorded an increase in the number of immigrants by a record eight percent last year; from 8.8 to 9.5 million (i.e. around 700,000 people, which corresponds to almost a third of total immigration to the EU during this period). Since 2010, the increase in migrants in the southern European country has been around 50 percent, slightly less in the second largest member state France (plus 30 percent since 2010, a total of around 9.6 million immigrants in 2025). The number of immigrants in the other member states has increased by around 75 percent since 2010, calculates the RF Berlin. Three quarters of migrants are of working age (between 15 and 64 years).
Today the proportion of the migrant population in the EU is on average 14 percent. Luxembourg stands out with 52 percent, followed by Malta (32%) and Cyprus (27.6%). Austria ranks fifth among the EU-27 (22.7%). The conclusion: In absolute numbers, the large member states lead the ranking; in relation to population size, the small ones dominate.
Unlike the total number of migrants, asylum applications in the EU have been falling for years – reaching 669,365 in 2025 (a decrease of 26.6% compared to 2024). The four largest EU countries Germany (113,000 applications), Spain (141,000), France (116,000) and Italy (127,000) together recorded almost three quarters of all applications. In Austria, which ranks ninth in absolute terms, 12,100 applications were received last year.
The composition of the countries of origin varies greatly: in Germany, Syrians and Afghans make up almost half of all asylum seekers, while in Spain 60 percent of applications come from Venezuelans. In Italy, asylum seekers from Bangladesh dominate (22%).
And which EU country is now hosting the most refugees? Here too, Germany stands out with 2.7 million people in need of protection, followed by Poland (around 1 million) and France (751,000). Austria hosts 281,300 refugees and is therefore in seventh place. If you compare the refugee numbers with the total population, a differentiated picture emerges: Cyprus is in first place in the EU with a proportion of almost five percent refugees, Austria is in fourth place (3.1%).
