EU countries granted citizenship to more than a million people in 2023
In 2023, 1 050 100 people obtained citizenship of the European Union country of their usual residence, an increase of 6.1 per cent compared with 2022, EU statistics agency Eurostat said on February 28.
This was mainly the result of increases in absolute terms in Spain (58 600 more residents were granted Spanish citizenship than in 2022), followed by Germany (33 200 more) and Belgium (6 700 more).
By contrast, the largest decreases in absolute terms compared with 2022 were in Sweden (down by 24 400), followed by France (down by 17 200) and Portugal (down by 3 800).
In relative terms, the largest increases occurred in Ireland (34.3 per cent), Estonia (32.7 per cent), Spain (32.2 per cent) and Poland (23.3 per cent), while the largest decreases occurred in Lithuania (-78.1 per cent), Bulgaria (-55.4 per cent) and Denmark (-34.8 per cent).
The top five countries granting citizenship accounted for 78 per cent of the total of new citizenships granted in the EU in 2023: Spain (240 200, or 22.9 per cent of the EU total), Italy (213 600, or 20.3 per cent), Germany (199 800, or 19 per cent), France (97 300, or 9.3 per cent) and Sweden (67 800, or 6.5 per cent).
In relation to the total population on 1 January 2023, the highest number of citizenships were granted by Luxembourg (8.8 per 1000 persons), followed by Sweden (6.4), Spain (5.0), Belgium (4.7) and Italy (3.6)
The majority (87.6 per cent) of people granted an EU citizenship in 2023 were previously citizens of a non-EU country.
Citizens of another EU country than the country of residence accounted for 10.7 per cent. People without (or with unknown) citizenship represented 1.7 per cent of the total.
In Hungary and Luxembourg, the majority of new citizenships (64.4 per cent and 60.6 per cent respectively) concerned citizens of another EU country.
In Luxembourg, Portuguese citizens accounted for the largest share (34.7 per cent), followed by French (21.7 per cent), Belgian (9.6 per cent) and Italian citizens (8.8 per cent).
In Hungary, most new citizenships were for Romanians (72.0 per cent) followed by Slovaks (19.9 per cent).
For the EU as a whole, the largest groups in terms of previous citizenship in 2023 were Syrians (107 500 persons, 10.2 per cent of all acquisitions of citizenship), Moroccans (106 500, 10.1 per cent), Albanians (44 400, 4.2 per cent), Romanians (37 200, 3.5 per cent) and Venezuelans (32 100, 3.1 per cent). Apart from Romania, two other EU countries were part of the top 10: Poland (13 900 persons, or 1.3 per cent), and Italy (10 200 persons, or 1.0 per cent).
(Photo: Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry)
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