Pre-year-end figures released by the Bavarian branch of the Bundespolizei show a sharp fall in unauthorised border crossings: only 12,207 cases were recorded up to 31 October 2025, down from 16,306 in 2024 and more than 30,000 in 2023. The number of suspected smugglers arrested also fell by ten percent to 633.
Officials attribute the decline to tighter controls along Germany’s southern and eastern borders – including the temporary checks that Berlin has just extended – as well as to intensified co-operation with Czech and Austrian police. The data suggest that the recent policy of mobile spot checks is deterring foot crossings: illegal entries on foot dropped by 80 % year-on-year, while most migrants now arrive by car, coach or train.
![Bundespolizei Reports 25 % Drop in Irregular Entries Into Bavaria in 2025]()
For policy-makers the numbers will be used to justify continued interior-border policing and could strengthen Germany’s hand in upcoming talks with Brussels over a further extension of controls beyond March. Human-rights NGOs, however, caution that reduced detections do not necessarily mean lower migration pressure; some routes may simply have shifted back to the Central Mediterranean.
Global mobility teams should note that fewer irregular entries often translate into fewer ad-hoc rail inspections and therefore smoother business travel within Bavaria. Nevertheless, staff should still carry passports when crossing internal borders, as document checks remain more frequent than before 2023.
Officials attribute the decline to tighter controls along Germany’s southern and eastern borders – including the temporary checks that Berlin has just extended – as well as to intensified co-operation with Czech and Austrian police. The data suggest that the recent policy of mobile spot checks is deterring foot crossings: illegal entries on foot dropped by 80 % year-on-year, while most migrants now arrive by car, coach or train.
For policy-makers the numbers will be used to justify continued interior-border policing and could strengthen Germany’s hand in upcoming talks with Brussels over a further extension of controls beyond March. Human-rights NGOs, however, caution that reduced detections do not necessarily mean lower migration pressure; some routes may simply have shifted back to the Central Mediterranean.
Global mobility teams should note that fewer irregular entries often translate into fewer ad-hoc rail inspections and therefore smoother business travel within Bavaria. Nevertheless, staff should still carry passports when crossing internal borders, as document checks remain more frequent than before 2023.
Source: Die Welt
