JAKARTA - Europeans think most migrants in their countries are staying illegally when the opposite is true, according to a new YouGov survey.

The poll of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and the UK found between 44 percent and 60 percent believe there are more illegal than legal migrants in their country. Italy had the widest gap at 60 percent.

The numbers tell a different story. In France, the government estimated 700,000 people were staying illegally in October 2025, but 9.3 million foreign-born people lived there legally as of December 2024, according to Eurostat data.

For regional context, about 115 million international migrants were born in Asia (roughly 40% of the global migrant stock), while Europe hosts about 87 million international migrants and the EU counted 44.7 million people born outside the EU on January 1, 2024.

This misperception appears to drive harsh views. About half of those surveyed said they support stopping all new migration and deporting large numbers of recent arrivals.

But when asked who exactly should leave, answers focused on people breaking rules. Between 78 percent and 91 percent of deportation supporters wanted to remove benefit claimants. Similar numbers targeted asylum seekers entering irregularly and people working without visas.

Far fewer wanted legal migrants gone. Only 15 percent to 24 percent said foreign doctors should be removed, equivalent to roughly 8 percent to 12 percent of the general public.

Healthcare staffing changed minds. When the survey posed trade-offs between cutting immigration and its consequences, preserving national health systems was the only scenario where deportation supporters consistently chose keeping immigration over reducing it.

Most Europeans view illegal immigration negatively, with 56 percent to 75 percent saying it has been bad. Views on legal immigration are split, though majorities in France and Germany think even legal migration has been too high.