Syrians in Germany (Arabic: السوريون في ألمانيا, romanized:al-Sūrīyūn fī Almāniyā) refers to Syrian immigrants in Germany, or Germans with Syrian ancestry. The number of people with an immigration background from Syria, including those with German citizenship, was estimated at around 1,281,000 in 2025. Additionally, the population with Syrian citizenship residing in Germany is 936,285 in 2025, making it the third-largest group of foreign nationals living in the country. Notably, Germany boasts by far the largest Syrian diaspora outside of the Middle East.
The population consists mainly of refugees from the Syrian Civil War, who arrived during the 2015 European migrant crisis. In 2018, Germany granted 72% of Syrian refugees protection for the right to work without any setbacks or restrictions. Significant Syrian communities exist in Berlin, especially in the district of Neukölln, and in the Ruhr-Area. After fall of the Assad regime, German government stated that the Syrian authorities aim to encourage the return of up to one million Syrians to support their economic and reconstruction efforts. However, discussions surrounding the topic have faced criticism, as many refugees arrived as children and later acquired professional qualifications, such as in engineering, through the national education funding. Critics argue that large-scale returns could worsen shortages of medical personnel and skilled workers in Germany. Experts also note that although many refugees express a desire to eventually return home after their children graduate, the lack of infrastructure, basic services, and employment opportunities in Syria means that no concrete mechanisms for large-scale voluntary repatriation have yet been established. As a result, the majority of immigrants currently still plan to remain in Germany.
Migration history
Pre-civil war migration
Even before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Germany had a significant population of Syrian migrants, with religious and ethnic minorities such as Assyrians over-represented in the population. Many opponents of the regime in former Ba'athist Syria under Bashar Al Assad, especially Syrian Sunni Muslims and Palestinians have also sought refuge in Germany.
Syrian refugees arrive in Cologne (2015)
Migration during the civil war
However, the overwhelming majority of Syrians who have arrived in Germany migrated to the country after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.
During the European migrant crisis of 2014-2015, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees of the Syrian Civil War entered Germany to seek refugee status. The European migrant crisis was eased on September 4, 2015, by Chancellor Werner Faymann of Austria and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. They announced that migrants would be allowed to cross the border from Hungary into Austria and onward to Germany. On the morning of September 5, 2015, buses with migrants began crossing the Austro-Hungarian border.
Germany's number of asylum applicants, mostly consisting of Syrians, peaked at 890,000 in 2015, however, the trend began to reverse. In 2018 for instance, only 185,000 Syrians applied for asylum in Germany, although Syrians still continue to be the far largest group of asylum seekers since 2013.
Most Syrians have been granted subsidiary protection, which makes them a permanent resident with the right to work and eligible for German citizenship after 5 years of residency. In 2023, they were by far the biggest group of foreign nationals receiving German citizenship.
Fall of the regime
After the Fall of Damascus on 7 December 2024 and Bashar al-Assad fleeing to Moscow, several thousand exiled Syrians living in Germany celebrated the fall of the Assad family. Following the fall of Assad regime, right-wing politicians campaigning for Germany´s 2025 election asked for the 973,905 Syrians in Germany to return to Syria.
While others feared that the SunniIslamistHTS rebels, in charge after the fall of the regime, may not be willing to honor fundamental rights like freedom of religion and warned of hasty returns. The processing of new applications for asylum for Syrians was halted by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
On 31 March 2025, 244,178 Syrians were working full time jobs in Germany. About 80,000 of them were working jobs which were traditionally subject to staffing shortages, according to estimates by the German Economic Institute. By July 2025 some 480,000 Syrians in Germany lived on benefits, like the Bürgergeld.
By 2026 some 1,63 million former refugees had returned to Syria, only 3,700 of them were from Germany. Looking at the low numbers, Malte Fischer concluded in May 2026 that the generous German benefit system and the state's inability to deport people was to blame.
Demographics
Syrian Nationals in Germany
Year
Pop.
±%
2010
30,133
—
2011
32,878
+9.1%
2012
40,360
+22.8%
2013
56,933
+41.1%
2014
118,196
+107.6%
2015
366,556
+210.1%
2016
637,845
+74.0%
2017
698,950
+9.6%
2018
745,645
+6.7%
2019
789,465
+5.9%
2020
818,460
+3.7%
2021
867,585
+6.0%
2022
923,805
+6.5%
2023
972,460
+5.3%
2024
975,060
+0.3%
2025
936,285
−4.0%
According to the 2010 Microcensus of the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), approximately 57,000 people with a Syrian migration background lived in Germany in 2010, including around 30,000 Syrian nationals.
Based on Germany’s Central Register of Foreigners, the number of Syrian citizens residing in Germany increased significantly following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. The Syrian population in Germany grew from 30,133 individuals in 2010 to 975,060 by 31 December 2024, making Syrians one of the country’s largest groups of foreign nationals.
The number of Syrian citizens subsequently declined to 936,285 by 31 December 2025, largely due to increasing rates of naturalization among Syrian nationals. During 2025, tens of thousands of Syrians acquired German citizenship and were therefore no longer included in statistics concerning foreign citizens.
According to data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) on first-time Syrian asylum applicants in Germany between 2013 and 2025, approximately 64.5% identified as Arabs and 27.7% as Kurds. Around 1.3% belonged to other ethnic groups (including Syriacs, and Turkmens), while the ethnicity of 6.5% of applicants was unknown.
In terms of religious affiliation, Muslims made up the majority of first-time Syrian asylum applicants in Germany between 2010 and 2025. According to the report, 88.9% of Syrian applicants professed Islam. Christians represented a religious minority at 2.6%, followed by Yazidis at 2.0%. Approximately 0.7% of applicants stated that they did not belong to any religion. For 5.8%, their religious affiliation was either unknown or they belonged to other or unspecified religious communities.
The following table provides an overview of the ethnicity of first-time asylum applicants from Syria, according to the BAMF:
Year
first-time applicants
Arabs
Kurds
Syriacs
Turkmens
Palestinians
other
unknown
2013
11,851
38.4%
49.0%
2.8%
7.0%
2.8%
2014
39,332
54.9%
34.8%
1.1%
2.5%
6.7%
2015
158,657
66.6%
24.9%
0.4%
1.2%
6.9%
2016
266,250
65.3%
29.0%
0.4%
0.9%
4.4%
2017
48,974
56.6%
36.3%
0.4%
1.1%
5.6%
2018
44,167
56.1%
31.1%
0.3%
1.0%
11.5%
2019
39,270
56.6%
31.3%
0.3%
0.7%
11.1%
2020
36,433
58.3%
29.2%
0.3%
0.6%
11.6%
2021
54,903
64.4%
26.6%
0.2%
0.5%
8.3%
2022
70,976
69.5%
23.4%
0.2%
0.5%
6.4%
2023
102,930
71.8%
21.8%
0.5%
0.5%
5.4%
2024
76,765
70.5%
22.9%
0.3%
0.4%
5.9%
2025
23,256
58.1%
33.8%
0.3%
0.7%
7.1%
The following table provides an overview of the religious affiliation of first-time asylum applicants from Syria according to the BAMF:
Year
first-time applicants
Muslims
Christians
Yazidis
non-denominational
other/ unknown
2010
1,490
774
112
546
15
43
2011
2,634
1,395
97
1,031
27
84
2012
6,201
3,484
947
1,573
26
171
2013
11,851
7,825
1,590
2,050
74
312
2014
39,332
32,477
1,922
2,052
285
2,596
2015
158,657
136,743
6,198
3,495
1,161
11,060
2016
266,250
243,691
6,837
4,107
1,824
9,791
2017
48,974
43,620
1,141
1,290
361
2,562
2018
44,167
37,257
786
669
341
5,114
2019
39,270
33,163
655
573
293
4,586
2020
36,433
30,982
518
601
231
4,101
2021
54,903
48,699
772
520
321
4,591
2022
70,976
65,556
895
366
340
3,819
2023
102,930
96,819
1,467
366
469
3,809
2024
76,765
71,746
1,152
320
414
3,133
2025
23,256
20,967
448
260
366
1,215
2010–2025
984,089
875,198
25,537
19,819
6,548
56,987
Settlement patterns
A large proportion of Syrians have settled in large West German cities, particularly in the Ruhr area and Berlin, where there was already a large Arab-Levantine community, consisting mainly of Lebanese and Palestinian migrants who arrived in the 1980s. However, there is also a sizeable Syrian community in eastern Germany, particularly in the largest cities such as Leipzig and Dresden, where they are the largest non-European immigrant group.
From 2020 to 2025, around 298,400 people of Syrian origin acquired German citizenship. The sharp increase is mainly due to the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011 and triggered a large flight movement. In the years 2014 to 2016, the so-called migration crisis reached its peak, as a result of which many Syrians came to Germany and were later naturalized.
Naturalization of Syrian nationals in Germany (since 1981)
Year
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
Number
259
182
203
244
256
276
297
338
354
Year
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
Number
334
393
475
626
678
602
645
672
886
811
Year
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Number
1.609
1.337
1.158
1.157
1.070
1.061
1.226
1.108
1.156
1.342
Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Number
1.401
1.454
1.321
1.508
1.820
2.027
2.263
2.479
2.880
3.860
Year
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Number
6.700
19.095
48.385
75.485
83.185
65.574
Integration
Although most Syrians automatically receive the right to work under German law, many German politicians and journalists have criticised the relatively high level of benefit dependency among Syrian migrants. In 2023, after most had been in Germany for 8 years, 55% of Syrians were dependent on benefits, compared to 5.3% of their German counterparts.
The relatively high crime rate among Syrians, especially among young Syrian men, has also been the subject of political debate. In June 2024, after an 18-year-old Syrian killed a 20-year-old man in the town of Bad Oeynhausen who had just returned from a school graduation ceremony, many politicians in Germany called for deportations to Syria, especially of those involved in criminal activities. Discussing the murder, the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst called for deportations of foreign nationals, "regardless of where they are from". Several days later German chancellor Olaf Scholz also called for deportations to Syria, although Germany has no official embassy in the country since the outbreak of the civil war.
Prior to the civil war, many of the Syrians who came to Germany were of Assyrian origin. During the conflict, Assyrians also sought protection from Islamist groups in Syria.
Established in Germany, the "Suriye Türkmen Kültür ve Yardımlaşma Derneği - Avrupa", or "STKYDA", ("Syrian Turkmen Culture and Solidarity Association - Europe") was the first Syrian Turkmen association to be launched in Europe. It was established in order to help the growing Syrian Turkmen community who arrived in the country since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. The association includes Syrian Turkmen youth activists from many different Syrian cities and who are now living across Western Europe.
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