Bulgaria
Asylum applications, returns and — where the figure exists — sea arrivals.
Ranked 13 of 27 countries by first-time asylum applications in the period
January–July 2026 · Eurostat
2025 · Eurostat
No source measures it for this country
Bulgaria: first-time asylum applications by month
People lodging their first asylum application in the country, by month.
These are first-time applications: repeat applications are excluded, because the total includes them and inflates the figures against the way they are usually quoted.
View the data as a table
| Period | people |
|---|---|
| 2023-10 | 3,000 |
| 2023-11 | 2,335 |
| 2023-12 | 760 |
| 2024-01 | 755 |
| 2024-02 | 545 |
| 2024-03 | 695 |
| 2024-04 | 725 |
| 2024-05 | 785 |
| 2024-06 | 1,055 |
| 2024-07 | 1,645 |
| 2024-08 | 1,975 |
| 2024-09 | 1,505 |
| 2024-10 | 1,470 |
| 2024-11 | 615 |
| 2024-12 | 370 |
| 2025-01 | 360 |
| 2025-02 | 265 |
| 2025-03 | 180 |
| 2025-04 | 365 |
| 2025-05 | 295 |
| 2025-06 | 230 |
| 2025-07 | 330 |
| 2025-08 | 350 |
| 2025-09 | 425 |
| 2025-10 | 425 |
| 2025-11 | 315 |
| 2025-12 | 265 |
| 2026-01 | 240 |
| 2026-02 | 60 |
| 2026-03 | 130 |
| 2026-04 | 230 |
| 2026-05 | 165 |
| 2026-06 | 220 |
| 2026-07 | 230 |
| 2026-08 | 195 |
| 2026-09 | 190 |
Bulgaria: where asylum seekers come from
2023–2026, full years; 2026 covers January–July · Eurostat
January–July 2026 · Eurostat
January–July 2025 · Eurostat
January–July 2024 · Eurostat
January–July 2023 · Eurostat
Syria20,79553%—
Afghanistan9,22523%—
Morocco4,61012%—
Iraq1,9605%—
Egypt9853%—
Pakistan3651%—
Algeria2801%—
Iran2801%—- Stateless2401%—
Türkiye1800%—- Another 23 citizenships4251%
Eurostat rounds every figure to multiples of five so that the people behind the smallest numbers cannot be identified: the citizenships add up to 39,345, while the published total is 39,610.
- Afghanistan40533%-20%
- Morocco21517%-55%
- Iraq20517%+2%
- Syria1059%-81%
- Iran706%—
- Pakistan605%—
- Egypt605%—
- Türkiye454%—
- Stateless202%—
- Algeria101%—
- Another 8 citizenships403%
Eurostat rounds every figure to multiples of five so that the people behind the smallest numbers cannot be identified: the citizenships add up to 1,235, while the published total is 1,275.
- Syria54528%-86%
- Afghanistan50526%-53%
- Morocco47524%+44%
- Iraq20010%-18%
- Egypt653%-79%
- Türkiye503%—
- Pakistan452%—
- Algeria352%—
- Iran201%—
Tunisia101%—- Another 4 citizenships201%
Eurostat rounds every figure to multiples of five so that the people behind the smallest numbers cannot be identified: the citizenships add up to 1,970, while the published total is 2,025.
- Syria3,91563%-24%
- Afghanistan1,08518%-65%
- Morocco3305%-71%
- Egypt3155%—
- Iraq2454%+23%
- Stateless751%—
- Pakistan501%—
- Algeria501%—
- Türkiye300%—
Russia200%—- Another 7 citizenships601%
Eurostat rounds every figure to multiples of five so that the people behind the smallest numbers cannot be identified: the citizenships add up to 6,175, while the published total is 6,205.
- Syria5,15052%—
- Afghanistan3,10031%—
- Morocco1,14011%—
- Iraq2002%—
- Egypt701%—
- Algeria651%—
- Russia551%—
- Pakistan400%—
- Stateless400%—
- Iran300%—
- Another 8 citizenships551%
Eurostat rounds every figure to multiples of five so that the people behind the smallest numbers cannot be identified: the citizenships add up to 9,945, while the published total is 9,975.
First-time asylum applications broken down by the citizenship of the people who lodge them. It is the same figure as the chart above seen from the other side: not which country they apply in, but which country they come from.
The bar is measured against the first in the ranking, not against the total: it shows how far the first is from the last. The percentage next to the number is the share of the published citizenships added together, which is not the country’s total: the note below the chart says by how much they differ. The change compares the same months of the previous year, and stays a dash below one hundred applications, where a percentage would say more than the data knows. “Total” adds up whole years and leaves a dash in the change column, because a total has no “previous year”.
View the data as a table
| Citizenship | First-time applications |
|---|---|
| Syria | 20,795 |
| Afghanistan | 9,225 |
| Morocco | 4,610 |
| Iraq | 1,960 |
| Egypt | 985 |
| Pakistan | 365 |
| Algeria | 280 |
| Iran | 280 |
| Stateless | 240 |
| Türkiye | 180 |
| Another 23 citizenships | 425 |
| Citizenship | First-time applications |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 405 |
| Morocco | 215 |
| Iraq | 205 |
| Syria | 105 |
| Iran | 70 |
| Pakistan | 60 |
| Egypt | 60 |
| Türkiye | 45 |
| Stateless | 20 |
| Algeria | 10 |
| Another 8 citizenships | 40 |
| Citizenship | First-time applications |
|---|---|
| Syria | 545 |
| Afghanistan | 505 |
| Morocco | 475 |
| Iraq | 200 |
| Egypt | 65 |
| Türkiye | 50 |
| Pakistan | 45 |
| Algeria | 35 |
| Iran | 20 |
| Tunisia | 10 |
| Another 4 citizenships | 20 |
| Citizenship | First-time applications |
|---|---|
| Syria | 3,915 |
| Afghanistan | 1,085 |
| Morocco | 330 |
| Egypt | 315 |
| Iraq | 245 |
| Stateless | 75 |
| Pakistan | 50 |
| Algeria | 50 |
| Türkiye | 30 |
| Russia | 20 |
| Another 7 citizenships | 60 |
| Citizenship | First-time applications |
|---|---|
| Syria | 5,150 |
| Afghanistan | 3,100 |
| Morocco | 1,140 |
| Iraq | 200 |
| Egypt | 70 |
| Algeria | 65 |
| Russia | 55 |
| Pakistan | 40 |
| Stateless | 40 |
| Iran | 30 |
| Another 8 citizenships | 55 |
Bulgaria: return orders issued and returns carried out
Return orders issued by the authorities and returns actually carried out, by year.
The two lines almost never meet. The gap between them is the share of orders that does not turn into a return, and neither figure alone shows it.
View the data as a table
| Period | people |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 1,155 |
| 2015 | 735 |
| 2016 | 1,215 |
| 2017 | 1,755 |
| 2018 | 710 |
| 2019 | 630 |
| 2020 | 310 |
| 2021 | 685 |
| 2022 | 540 |
| 2023 | 535 |
| 2024 | 965 |
| 2025 | 1,205 |
Bulgaria: sea arrivals by month
UNHCR does not publish sea arrivals for this country.