In the first quarter of 2025, 123,905 citizens of non-EU countries were ordered to leave the territory of a Member State, and 28,475 people were returned to third countries after a departure order was issued. This was reported by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), quoted by Focus.
Compared to the same period in 2024, the number of issued departure orders increased by 18.4%, and those returned to third countries by 6.4%. However, compared to the previous quarter, a slight decrease was recorded - by 0.9% in orders and by 4.3% in returns.
Among third-country nationals who were ordered to leave the EU, the most numerous were citizens of Algeria (9,995), Morocco (7,450) and Syria (6,915). In terms of those actually returned to third countries, the leading ones were citizens of Georgia (2,170), followed by Syria (2,000) and Albania (1,865).
Among the EU countries, France issued the most orders to leave - 34,545, followed by Germany (17,915) and Spain (16,705). The most returned foreigners were registered again in France (3,695), Germany (3,625) and Cyprus (3,470).