Germany granted citizenship to a record 332,500 people last year, a 14% increase, with Syrians making up the largest group for the fifth year in a row, according to data released by the Federal Statistics Office on Wednesday. One in five people naturalized in 2025 was Syrian. However, compared with 2024, the number of Syrians gaining German citizenship dropped by 21% Many Syrians who arrived as refugees during 2015 and 2016 became eligible for naturalization during 2024 The office attributes the increase to June 2024 reforms that reduced residency requirements for naturalization from eight years to five, as well as allowed individuals to hold dual citizenship After Syrians, the largest groups to naturalize were Turks (10%, or 34,100 people) and Russians (6%, or 19,700 people). Particularly strong year-over-year growth was also seen for Bosnians (126%, or 8,800 people), the United States (100%, or 6,600 people), and Albanians (97%, or 6,100 people). The number of people who naturalized through restitution laws that restore citizenship to individuals, and their descendants, who were stripped of it by Nazi Germany, rose by 61% to 12,000.
