Germany says 280,000 asylum seekers arrived there in 2016 - that's just a third of the numbers that arrived in the previous year.
The German interior minister credited the decrease to the closure of the Balkan route, and the migrant deal between the EU and Turkey.
Thomas De Maiziere says it shows the measures are working.
"The figure of 280,000 shows that the measures taken by the German government and the European Union worked, namely a clear reduction in numbers."
This may be welcome news for German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she prepares to seek re-election.
Ms Merkel has been criticised over her handling of the migrant crisis.
An attack at a Berlin Christmas market carried out by a rejected asylum seeker further fuelled accusations that mass migration has made Germany more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, as France prepares for its presidential elections, frontrunner Francois Fillon has called for immigration quotas.
"We see that the number of visas granted in France over the last five years has not stopped rising - in a country where there are nearly six million people enrolled at the unemployment agency, where there are close to nine million people in poverty and who are in a very difficult situation. I suggest that we agree to the same system that Canada implemented, which works perfectly, and which allows the parliament, as part of a democratic and transparent debate, to set immigration quotas."
But while leaders focus on the numbers, migrants stranded in Greece are focused on keeping warm.
Sub-zero temperatures have gripped much of Europe.
At a camp near the village of Ritsona, about 80 kilometres north of Athens, temperatures hovered just below zero as thick snow fell.
This man, Ahmad, who's travelled from Syria, says the conditions are difficult.
"Generally, it is cold, very cold now. Inside the 'Isoboxes' (containers) it is okay, but some 'Isoboxes' have problems with the (air) conditioners, maybe don't work, maybe there is some problems with the water, sometimes, but generally it is better than the tents, okay, you can, like (have) a small home."
The European Union has again called for solidarity to tackle the problem.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker says the migrant crisis is a problem for all of Europe.
"The problem of refugees cannot be left to Greece, to Italy, to Malta. It is a European problem and we need a European response of solidarity and I would strongly urge your government to try to bring this issue as far as, the way of delivering an answer to this issue, to a final stage which would allow us to proceed in a proper manner. "
Maltese President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca says Europe is at a crossroads, with no consensus yet on the future for Europe.
"There are voices calling for walls to be built, for borders to be reinforced, for divisions to be reasserted. We cannot be silent or complicit when so much is at stake. We must remind one another of the important gains we have made in terms of the bridges which we have built to unite us, the friendships we have made across our borders and our solidarity, which we have nurtured in the service of peace."
