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Germany granted citizenship to a record 332,500 people in 2025, Reuters reported, citing data released by the Federal Statistical Office. The number of citizenship grants was 14 percent higher than the previous year, according to the office. Syrians were the largest group of people granted citizenship from 2021 to 2025.
One in five people who received German citizenship last year was Syrian. However, the number of Syrians receiving citizenship in the Central European country has fallen by 21% compared to 2024. Many Syrians who came to Germany as refugees in 2015 and 2016 became eligible for citizenship by 2024.
The office cited the June 2024 reforms as a reason for the increase in Syrian citizenship. The reforms reduced the residency requirement in the country from eight years to five years and allowed individuals to hold dual citizenship.
According to the office, after Syrians, the largest groups of people who received citizenship were Turks (34,100) and Russians (19,700). Then came Bosnians (8,800), Americans (6,600) and Albanians (6,100).
Citizenship was granted to individuals and their descendants deprived of citizenship by Nazi Germany through citizenship restoration laws, and their numbers have greatly increased.
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