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Which EU countries had the highest deportation rates in 2025 and why?
Executive summary
Eurostat data for Q2 2025 show France, Spain and Germany issued the largest absolute numbers of orders to leave — France 34,760, Spain 14,545 and Germany 14,095 — together accounting for 54.4% of EU expulsion orders that quarter [1]. Reporting and policy analysis link higher removals to countries receiving more arrivals, national enforcement priorities and a new EU push to raise “return” effectiveness (return rates across the EU cited at ~20–25% in multiple accounts) and a proposed recast of the Returns Directive aimed at speeding deportations [1] [2] [3].
1. Which countries recorded the most orders to leave — and what that means
Eurostat’s quarterly enforcement tables list the raw counts of third‑country nationals ordered to leave in Q2 2025: France top with 34,760, then Spain 14,545 and Germany 14,095; those three account for 54.4% of orders in that quarter, indicating concentration of formal expulsion decisions in a few member states [1]. These figures measure orders to leave — an administrative or judicial decision — not successful removals; Eurostat separately counts effective returns, which are much lower in aggregate (28,355 returns in Q2 2025) [1].
2. Deportations vs. orders: effectiveness and limits of the headline numbers
EU‑wide reporting shows a persistent gap between orders issued and people actually returned: multiple outlets cite return/removal rates around 20–25% and commissioners describe “return rates across the EU currently standing at only 20 percent,” highlighting a chronic enforcement shortfall [2] [3]. Eurostat’s Q2 2025 return total [4] [5] and the larger number ordered to leave [6] [7] illustrate this gap in absolute terms [1]. That gap matters: high counts of orders in a country do not necessarily mean high successful deportations — they may instead reflect robust registration and decision‑making, or bottlenecks in carrying out removals [1] [2].
3. Why France, Spain and Germany top the lists: arrivals, capacity and policy
Analysts and EU institutions tie higher numbers of orders to where arrivals and asylum claims concentrate, national enforcement capacity, and political choices to prioritise returns. Eurostat’s data implicitly reflect pressure points where more cases are opened; France, Spain and Germany are major destinations or transit destinations for irregular migration and therefore issue more administrative decisions [1]. At the same time, the European Commission and media coverage note a broader policy drive in 2025 to increase returns and ease legal and logistical obstacles to deportations, which will affect national practice [2] [8].
4. The EU policy shift pushing more removals — and the controversy around it
In 2025 the Commission proposed a recast of the Returns Directive and related measures to simplify and speed up deportations, citing low EU return rates and fragmentation of systems as justification; commentators report proposals for “return hubs,” expanded detention grounds and faster border procedures [2] [9] [3]. Civil‑society outlets warn these measures could erode safeguards and increase coercion, while Commission documents frame them as a technical fix to boost effectiveness [9] [2]. That political push helps explain why several states increased deportation activity or prepared to do so in 2025 [2] [10].
5. Geographic and legal drivers: border type, “safe countries” and bilateral deals
Country-level enforcement also reflects border realities and legal classifications: land‑border states recorded many refusals at external land borders (e.g., Poland, Croatia, Romania, Hungary) in 2024, while France and Germany logged high refusal numbers at air borders — patterns that feed into who gets ordered to leave and where removals are attempted [11]. The EU’s move to designate “safe countries of origin” and to pursue bilateral cooperation with third countries (including sanctions for non‑cooperation) targets specific nationalities for accelerated procedures, which will affect where orders and returns concentrate [12] [13].
6. What the numbers don’t tell us — and what reporting omits
Available sources do not provide a definitive ranked list of “highest deportation rates” for all EU countries in 2025 measured as removals per capita or returns as a share of orders; Eurostat supplies absolute counts for orders and returns and other outlets cite aggregate return‑rate estimates [1] [2]. Sources also do not fully disaggregate successful removals by country of expulsion in the Q2 2025 summary beyond top citizenships returned (e.g., Georgians, Turks, Albanians) [1]. Therefore claims about which states had the highest per‑capita deportation rates are not supported by the provided reporting.
7. Bottom line and competing perspectives
Data-backed bottom line: France, Spain and Germany issued the most orders to leave in Q2 2025 by absolute count [1]. Context and competing perspectives matter: Brussels and pro‑enforcement outlets frame new laws as necessary to raise low return rates and restore control [2] [8], while watchdogs and NGOs warn the proposals risk more detention, reduced safeguards and possible abuses [9] [3]. For per‑capita rates or a full ranking of successful removals by country, available sources do not provide that specific metric and further granular Eurostat releases would be needed [1].