The European Commission has reported that EU and Schengen-associated consulates received nearly 12 million applications for short-stay visas in 2025, reflecting continued recovery in international travel demand. However, overall volumes remain below pre-pandemic levels.
The latest figures showed a 1.8 per cent increase in Schengen visa applications compared to 2024, when 11.7 million applications were recorded. Compared to 2023, applications increased by 15.5 per cent from 10.3 million.
Despite the recovery, total application volumes remain below the 17 million applications recorded globally in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 10 million visas were issued in 2025, marking a 3 per cent increase over the 9.7 million visas granted in 2024. However, visa issuance levels also remain significantly lower than the 15 million visas issued in 2019.
India remained one of the largest source markets for Schengen visas globally, ranking third after China and Türkiye.
According to the European Commission data, Indian applicants submitted 1,153,748 Schengen visa applications during 2025. Nearly 967,000 visas were issued to Indian travellers, while 181,111 applications resulted in non-issuance decisions, translating into an overall non-issuance rate of 15.8 per cent.
China remained the largest applicant market with around 1.8 million applications, followed by Türkiye with 1.25 million applications. Russia and Morocco completed the top five applicant markets globally.
The global Schengen visa refusal rate remained unchanged at 14.8 per cent compared to 2024, although trends varied significantly across individual countries.
Refusal rates declined in Russia, Algeria and Ethiopia, while several countries witnessed sharp increases in non-issuance rates, including Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Burundi.
Of the total visas issued globally, 51.2 per cent, or approximately 5.1 million visas, permitted multiple entries into the Schengen area, slightly lower than the 52.2 per cent recorded in 2024.
The report also noted that Schengen states issued 83,790 visas at external borders during 2025, marginally lower than the 85,118 visas issued through border procedures in 2024.
The latest figures underline the continued recovery of outbound travel demand globally while highlighting India’s sustained importance as one of Europe’s largest long-haul source markets for tourism, business and leisure travel.
