The Schengen Information System 2024 has reached a scale never seen before, reflecting its central role in European security, border management, and judicial cooperation. According to the annual report from eu-LISA, the database was accessed more than 15 billion times during the year, a number that shows both the breadth of its use and the growing reliance of Member States on the system.
The Netherlands remained the most active user, responsible for over a quarter of all searches. Belgium followed with one-fifth, and France accounted for just under ten percent. These figures underline the weight of a few Member States in driving much of the daily operational work of SIS.
The Numbers Behind Schengen Information System 2024
In 2024, the system recorded 15,044,676,229 total accesses, split between 15,021,198,103 searches and 23,478,126 alert management operations. The daily average was striking: more than 41 million searches every single day and close to 1,100 confirmed hits handled across Europe.
Compared with the previous year, the volume of traditional alphanumeric searches increased by about 2 percent. Automated searches remained broadly stable, but the real leap came in biometric checks. Fingerprint-based AFIS queries rose to 6,968,949, which represents a 66 percent jump in one year. By December 2024, the database contained 93,195,404 active alerts, not only on persons but also on vehicles, firearms, travel documents, and even shipping containers.
Growing Operational Reach – Confirmed Hits
The effectiveness of SIS lies not just in searches but in the confirmed matches, known as hits. In 2024, SIRENE Bureaux across Europe reported 397,804 hits on alerts created by other countries, an 11 percent increase compared with 2023. Every hit requires direct coordination between the country that entered the alert and the country that detected it, which shows the system’s practical importance in daily law enforcement and border security work.
Return Decisions and Cross-Border Follow-up
Another important element in the Schengen Information System 2024 was the handling of return decisions. By the end of the year, Member States had registered 570,947 alerts on third-country nationals subject to removal orders. These alerts generated 103,901 hits, and from them, authorities carried out 18,904 confirmed returns, including 948 cases of forced removal. In addition, 9,987 information exchanges were triggered by detections at external borders.
These statistics highlight how SIS now underpins not only border checks but also migration management and judicial enforcement across the EU.
Who Used the System Most in 2024
The distribution of searches shows a clear hierarchy. The Netherlands conducted 28 percent of all searches, Belgium followed with 20 percent, and France accounted for 9 percent. Other states contributed smaller but still significant volumes, with Spain, Germany, and Italy also among the leading users.
Interestingly, Eurojust reported no searches for 2024. Frontex began direct use in June, starting in Italy and expanding to Cyprus by December, while Europol also connected directly to the central system.
Context – Interoperability and Future EU Border Systems
The rise in activity for the Schengen Information System 2024 cannot be separated from the reforms of March 2023, when an enhanced version of the system went live. The changes expanded the type of data that could be stored and integrated it more closely with other European databases. This is part of the EU’s wider interoperability program, which aims to link systems across borders for police cooperation, migration control, and judicial coordination.
For travelers, these developments are not abstract. They tie directly into upcoming border technology, such as the Entry-Exit System, scheduled to start on October 12, and the ETIAS travel authorization fee, due in 2026. Together, they will reshape how citizens of third countries experience border checks when entering or leaving the Schengen Area.
