Nigeria ranks sixth among the top 10 countries with the largest number of citizens who applied for asylum in The Netherlands in 2025.

Statistics from The Netherlands asylum information database showed the number of Nigerians and other foreign nationals who applied to the Dutch authorities for asylum in 2025.

“Statistics on applicants concern people” in the period under review and include “children and dependents,” the Netherlands authorities said, adding, “While this report provides some statistical information on the year 2025, various data was not made publicly available by the time of writing of this report.”

The data indicated that 986 Nigerians applied for asylum in 2025, making up 9.04 per cent of the 10,908 total applicants who applied to the Dutch government for asylum.

In the year under review, a total of 515 asylum applications from Nigerians were decided. Of the number, 425 applications were rejected, 65 granted refugee status, 10 granted subsidiary protection, while 15 were granted humanitarian protection.

Further breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers of the top 10 countries of origin of asylum applicants indicated that Nigeria had the highest rejection rate, at 83 per cent, an overall protection rate of 17 per cent, a refugee rate of 13 per cent, a subsidiary protection rate of 2 per cent, and a humanitarian protection rate of 3 per cent in 2025.

Meanwhile, war-torn Syria ranks first with 3,373 asylum applicants, Eritrea follows with 3,178 asylum applicants, while Turkey, Somalia and Algeria respectively rank third, fourth and fifth.

While Nigeria ranks sixth, Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan respectively ranked seventh, eighth and ninth among the top 10 countries with the highest number of asylum seekers in the Netherlands.

The 10th covered applicants who cannot prove their nationality.