According to Schengen Statistics, Chinese citizens submitted 927,604 applications overall during this time, a difference of 5.06 percent from Turks, who came in second with 882,903 applications, according to EU Helpers.

Chinese nationals submitted the most visa applications, totaling 437,462, in 2018. However, in the years that followed, these numbers fell, reaching one of the lowest levels in 2021, when only 4,973 applications were submitted.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a direct impact on the trend of Chinese visa applications; the first decline in application rates was seen in 2019, the year the virus first appeared, and it was followed by a staggering 90.6 percent decline in application rates the following year, from 431,817 to 40,435.

But even though Chinese nationals had a difficult time applying for visas during COVID-19, they still hold the top spot for the years between 2018 and 2022.

Turkish nationals, who, unlike Chinese applicants, quickly recovered from the epidemic periods, constitute this period's second-largest group of visa applicants.

More specifically, Turks made up the majority of those applying for a German visa in 2022, with a total of 223,699 submissions, including roughly 126,549 in Istanbul, 32,174 in Izmir, and another 64,976 in Ankara, the country's capital.

Turkish nationals' applications decreased from 253,014 in 2020 to 75,280 in the following year, but they then increased (to 93,587) and nearly reached pre-pandemic levels in 2022 (223,699).

Schengen Statistics data show that the impact of COVID-19 was significant, particularly for some nationalities like China, who were barred from traveling to Germany during this time—or anywhere else in the globe, for that matter.

The most popular candidates for 2020 and 2021 were Turkiyeans, who were more receptive to Europe than Chinese.

The third-largest applicant nation, Russia, is closely behind with only 705,208 applications, or 20.1% fewer than Turks. However, this nationality was also considerably impacted by developments that took place during the course of the five-year period, as evidenced by the sharp decline in applications between 2019 (298,870) and 2020 (62,839).

The number of applications from Russians fell even further in 2021, to just 26,962, when COVID-19 limitations were still in place throughout Europe, including Germany. However, these figures increased to 48,895 in 2022.

European nations severely sanctioned Russia as a result of its military invasion of Ukraine, which included closing the bulk of its diplomatic missions.

On the other side, with 463,800 applications spread across five consulates, Indians were the fourth nationality with the most visa requests to German consulates during this five-year period.

Indian nationals submitted the most of their applications in 2019 (298,870), which then dropped to 30,793 in 2020 and 76,352 in 2022.

In this five-year period, Chinese, Turks, Russians, and Indians were the top applicants, but Egyptians, Saudi Arabs, and Thais also merited notice because they had some of the highest application rates among other nations.