6 Million Schengen Visas were issued by European countries last year

A total of 5,939,896 Schengen visas have been issued in 2022, according to statistics provided by Schengen nations. This is more than double as compared with 2021 which was 2.4 million. On the other hand, 17.9% of visa applications were turned down. This is a significantly higher rate of refusals as compared with the last few years. The Schengen States also issued 80,336 short-stay visas directly at the external borders.

Non-EU applicants have submitted 7,572,755 short-term visa applications to Schengen countries’ embassies globally in 2022. This is a 258% increase to 2021. This despite being quite an increase from the two years prior, is still 55% less than the number of visas dealt with in 2019 before the epidemic.

List of Schengen visa countries

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Romania, Bulgaria, and Switzerland. Liechtenstein does not issue its own Schengen visas and is therefore not listed.

The Schengen countries got 16,955,541 applications in 2019, 2,924,365 in 2020, and 2,926,104 in 2021.

Number of visa applications lodged in the top five countries:

Number of Schengen visas issued by Schengen countries

Number of Schengen visa applications submitted in Schengen countries

Applications for Schengen Visa throughout the previous five years

In 2018 and 2019, over 15 million applications were received. In 2020 and 2021, there was a sudden drop in applications to 3 million. In 2022, it increases from 3 to 7 million. 

A quarter of all Schengen applications originated at French embassies, consulates, and visa offices, maintaining France’s position as the largest Schengen state with regard to most visa applications. Germany comes next, then Spain, and finally France. When it pertains to the number of Schengen visa applications, these three nations have maintained their top rankings for many years.

In terms of the countries with the most visa applications, Turkey currently holds the top rank with 778,409 submissions, followed by Russia with 687,239 and India with 671,928. The top three applicant markets in 2019—the year used as a baseline for comparison—were Russia, China, and India. China is ranked 22nd in the world in 2022.

The number of Turkish nationals asking for Schengen visas has also decreased from 906,862 applications in 2019 to 778,409 applications in 2022, despite Turkey being at the highest level of the rankings.

Non-EU countries that got the most Schengen visas in 2022