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29 March 2024

EU States grant citizenship to about 1m in 2016

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By Wam

In 2016, around 995,000 persons acquired citizenship of a Member State of the European Union (EU), up from 841,000 in 2015 and 889,000 in 2014, according to figures released today by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

''Of the total number of persons obtaining the citizenship of one of the EU Member States in 2016, 12 percent were former citizens of another EU Member State, while the majority were non-EU citizens or stateless,'' Eurstat noted.

The largest group acquiring citizenship of an EU Member State where they lived in 2016 was citizens of Morocco (101, 300 persons, of whom 89 percent acquired citizenship of Spain, Italy or France), ahead of citizens of Albania (67,500, 97 percent acquired citizenship of Italy or Greece), India (41, 700, almost 60 percent acquired British citizenship), Pakistan (32, 900, more than half acquired British citizenship), Turkey (32, 800, almost half acquired German citizenship), Romania (29, 700, 44 percent acquired Italian citizenship), and Ukraine (24 000, 60 percent acquired citizenship of Germany, Romania, Portugal or Italy).

Moroccans, Albanians, Indians, Pakistanis, Turks, Romanians, and Ukrainians represented together about one third (33 percent) of the total number of persons who acquired citizenship of an EU Member State in 2016, Eurostat indicated.