One European country has taken drastic action to reduce the number of people claiming asylum.
Sweden has taken measures to tackle immigration (Image: Getty Images)
Sweden has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of people applying for asylum in the past year. According to data, the Scandinavian country saw applications fall by 30% between 2024 and 2025.
The sharp decrease comes after the election of a centre-right Swedish government in 2022, supported by the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, running on an anti-immigration ticket. Over the past decade, the country has seen an increase in violent crime and murder linked to organised criminals in major cities against a backdrop of high immigration. Swedish migration minister Johan Forssell has hailed several measures taken by the government to restrict immigration, including the introduction of stringent conditions for gaining citizenship and increasing removals.
In 2015, a large number of asylum seekers made their way to Sweden (Image: Getty Images)
He said: “In 2025, the number of asylum seekers to Sweden continued to decline. It’s a sharp decrease. A 30% drop in just one year.”
From next year, migrants who choose to return voluntarily to their home countries from 2026 will be eligible for payments of up to 350,000 kronor (around £28,000).
Data from the Swedish Migration Agency shows that Sweden issued 79,684 residence permits in 2025, with just 6% linked to asylum claims — down from 18% in 2018, when 133,025 permits were granted.
In parallel, 8,312 people left Sweden last year to return to their countries of origin.
Forssell hailed his country’s achievements in reducing immigration (Image: Getty)
Forssell added: “The change isn’t just about numbers in terms of lower immigration, it’s also about the way that’s made up, who is coming to Sweden with the proportion from asylum at a record low.”
Sweden has been followed by Germany in heavily clamping down on immigration in order to address concerns that have led to a rise in support for far-right parties.
Germany has seen the number of illegal migrants trying to enter the country drop to its lowest level in over a decade – barring the first year of the pandemic.
The astonishing reduction has happened on the watch of Germany‘s CDU Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The Conservative politician had pledged to crackdown on immigration during federal elections in 2025. In the first eleven months of last year, 106,298 first-time asylum applications were recorded by the national migration agency Bamf.
This puts Germany on course for its smallest annual total since 2013. By way of comparison, the figure in 2024 was over double, at 229,751.
