Italy rejects 2,220 Nigerians seeking asylum

In 2025, Italy rejected 2,220 asylum applications from Nigerians, accounting for 19.47% of all first-instance decisions made on Nigerian cases. This rejection rate was the highest among the top 10 nationalities, and it surpassed Italy's national average of 5.7%. Of the 3,390 decisions rendered on Nigerian cases, 660 (19.47%) resulted in full refugee status, 55 (1.62%) received subsidiary protection, and 460 (13.57%) were granted national or special protection.

Additionally, 1,175 Nigerians received some form of protection, placing the overall protection rate at 34.66%.

As of December 31, 2025, 4,120 Nigerian cases remained pending before Italian authorities. Among African asylum seekers, Egypt led with 11,790 applications, followed by Morocco with 9,485 applications. Tunisians, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Somalia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Nigeria also filed significant numbers of applications. However, rejection rates varied among these nationalities, with Tunisia recording the highest at 85.41%.

Italy is currently managing a rise in asylum demand while facing declining approval rates. In 2025, 126,635 first asylum requests were registered in Italy, a decrease from 2024 but still nearly double the number in 2022. The overall protection rate at first instance stood at 30% in 2025, slightly lower than in 2024 but higher than in 2022. As of December 2025, 234,165 applications remained pending.