In the Schengen Information System, the number of searches conducted by member state authorities, Europol and Frontex rose in 2025 to nearly 17.8 billion. At the same time, the number of person-related alerts has doubled since 2022, approaching the 2 million mark. Surveillance alerts under Article 36 are also on the rise.

In the Schengen Information System (SIS), the currently 29 full members of the Schengen Agreement can flag persons and objects – including vehicles, boats, aircraft, weapons and documents – for investigation. In 2025, this largest European criminal database again saw a marked increase in both entries and queries. According to the new annual report by EU agency eu-LISA, authorities of the Schengen states as well as the agencies Europol and Frontex conducted a total of nearly 17.8 billion searches – 18% more than 2024.

Particularly notable is the development in person-related alerts: in 2022, around 960,000 entries were registered; by the end of 2025, the figure was approaching the 2 million mark.

That represents a doubling in four years, as eu-LISA itself notes. In total, as of 31 December 2025, around 94.6 million entries were stored in the SIS – 2% more than the year before. The vast majority relate to alerts for objects and lost documents.

Three in ten searches from the Netherlands

As in previous years, the largest share of SIS entries originates from France (19%), closely followed by Italy (also just under 19%) and Germany (17%); together these three countries account for around 55% of all stored records. The Netherlands continues to dominate in terms of queries: three in ten searches in 2025 were initiated by Dutch authorities, two in ten by Belgian ones.

The overall rise in queries is likely attributable, as in previous years, primarily to automated processes such as licence plate scanners and passenger data systems. In 2025, these accounted for more than 12 billion searches; in 2024 the figure was 9.9 billion, and in 2021 still around 4 billion.

Biometric queries, at around 13.1 million searches, continue to represent a small fraction (0.07% of all searches). However, they have grown considerably since the introduction of the automated fingerprint identification system SIS-AFIS in March 2018. Since March 2023, five different types of biometric query have been possible, including the matching of crime scene traces against stored prints.

Again rise in discreet and overt checks

One category of alerts represents a particularly serious intrusion into the fundamental rights of those concerned: under Article 36 of the SIS Regulation adopted in 2018, authorities may, in addition to overt checks or “interviews in the interest of national security”, also request covert surveillance through the database. In such cases, individuals are discreetly documented during a police check or a visit to a public authority, and information about their whereabouts, travelling companions or destination is reported back to the requesting agency.

The number of these Article 36 alerts is rising steadily: their total stood at 211,219 in 2025, compared with 195,234 the year before. The hit rate of 71,352 matches is strikingly high, which may be because those affected are unaware of the alert and unsuspectingly board aircraft or present themselves at public authorities.

New category for return decisions

The number of stored return decisions – that is, entries relating to third-country nationals against whom a deportation order has been issued – stood at around 819,000 at the end of 2025. This category is new and is intended to curb so-called secondary migration by asylum seekers. Those concerned can then be deported, with their consent or by force, under the Dublin system to the EU member states where they first lodged an asylum application.

The entries on return decisions led to 103,901 hits last year. Eu-LISA reports that 1,480 persons were subsequently actually deported.

The only figure to fall in the SIS in 2025 was the number of successful matches: at 364,984 reported hits – around 1,000 per day and more than 40 per hour – it was 8% below the previous year’s figure of just under 400,000. Eu-LISA does not elaborate on this decline in its report.

Image: According to the annual report of EU agency eu-LISA, authorities of the Schengen states as well as Europol and Frontex conducted nearly 17.8 billion searches (NoName_13/Pixabay).