In the third quarter of 2025, 115,440 non-EU citizens were ordered to leave an EU country, and 34,155 people were returned to third countries following an order to leave.
Compared with the third quarter of 2024, the number of non-EU citizens ordered to leave went up by 2.7%, and the number of people returned to third countries increased by 14.6%.
In comparison with the previous quarter, the number of orders to leave decreased by 0.9%, while the number of returns to third countries increased by 5.0%.
Source datasets: migr_eiord1 and migr_eirtn1
Among non-EU citizens ordered to leave an EU country in the third quarter of 2025, most were citizens of Algeria (12,325), followed by Morocco (6,670) and Türkiye (6,350). Regarding those returned to third countries, most were citizens of Türkiye (3,625), followed by Georgia (2,835) and Albania (2,055).
Among EU countries, the highest numbers of non-EU citizens ordered to leave were recorded in France (33,760), Germany (12,510) and Greece (10,175).
Additionally, Germany (7,190), France (3,760) and Cyprus (3,000) recorded the highest numbers of people returned to third countries.
Source datasets: migr_eiord1 and migr_eirtn1
For more information
- Statistics Explained article on returns of irregular migrants – quarterly statistics
- Statistics Explained article on enforcement of immigration legislation statistics (annual data)
- Statistics Explained article on enforcement of immigration legislation statistics methodology
- Thematic section on managed migration
- Database on migration and asylum
- Migrant integration and inclusion dashboard
- Migration and asylum in Europe – 2025 edition
Methodological note
Returned to a third country following an order to leave: due to temporary derogations, 2023 data are not available for Cyprus. As a result, this EU country is only included in the calculations from 2024 and onwards.
