In 2008 waren er 696 000 personen die het burgerschap van de EU kregen (en)

STAT/10/100

6 July 2010

Acquisition of citizenship in the EU

EU27 Member States granted citizenship to

696 000 persons in 2008

In 2008, 696 000 persons acquired citizenship1 of an EU27 Member State, compared with 707 000 in 2007. The new citizens in 2008 came mainly from Africa (29% of the total number of citizenships acquired), non-EU27 Europe (22%), Asia (19%) and North and South America (17%). Citizens of one EU27 Member State who acquired citizenship in another Member State accounted for 8% of the total.

These data on the acquisition of citizenship of the EU27 Member States are taken from a report2 issued by Eurostat i, the statistical office of the European Union.

Highest number of citizenships per resident foreigner granted in Sweden and Portugal

In 2008, the highest number of citizenships were granted by France (137 000 persons), the United Kingdom

(129 000) and Germany (94 000), which together accounted for over 50% of all citizenships granted by the EU27 Member States.

The number of citizenships granted can be related to the number of resident foreigners i.e. non-nationals resident in the Member State. The highest rates were registered in Sweden (54 citizenships granted per 1 000 resident foreigners), Portugal (51), Poland (48), Finland (47) and Hungary (43), and the lowest rates in the Czech Republic (3), Ireland and Luxembourg (both 6). The EU27 average was 23 citizenships granted per 1 000 resident foreigners.

When compared with the population of each Member State, the highest rates of citizenship granted were recorded in Sweden (3.3 citizenships granted per 1 000 inhabitants), Luxembourg (2.5), France, Portugal and the United Kingdom (all 2.1). Ten Member States granted less than one citizenship per 1 000 inhabitants, with the lowest rate observed in Poland, followed by the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia. The EU27 average was

1.4 citizenships granted per 1 000 inhabitants.

Most citizenships in the EU27 acquired by Moroccans, Turks and Ecuadorians

In 2008, the largest groups that acquired citizenship of an EU27 Member State were citizens of Morocco (64 000 persons), Turkey (50 000), Ecuador (27 000), Algeria (23 000) and Iraq (20 000). France granted 45% of all the citizenships acquired in the EU27 by Moroccans, Germany 49% of those acquired by Turks, Spain 93% of those acquired by Ecuadorians, France 88% of those acquired by Algerians and the United Kingdom 44% of those acquired by Iraqis.

In some Member States, a large part of the citizenships was granted to citizens from only one country. The Member States with the highest concentrations were Romania (89% of the new citizens had been citizens of Moldova), Hungary (68% came from Romania), Greece (59% from Albania) and Bulgaria (51% from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). In Latvia and Estonia, 96% and 92% respectively of the new citizens were recognised non-citizens3.

Acquisition of citizenship in the EU27, 2008

• * 

  Includes estimates for Member States for which data are not available.

** Data on foreign population are not available or fully comparable for Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey.

• : 

  Data not available

Largest groups acquiring citizenship in the EU27 Member States, 2008

• : 

  Data not available.

• * 

  Includes estimates for Member States for which data are not available.

** A stateless person is someone who is not recognized as a citizen of any State.

*** Data refer to Serbia & Montenegro, which existed between 2003 and 2006.

• - 

  Citizenship is the legal bond between an individual and a state, acquired by birth, naturalisation or other means according to national legislation. Naturalisation is the process by which a state grants its citizenship through a formal act on the application of the individual concerned. Other ways of granting citizenship may include spouses of nationals, minors adopted by nationals and descendants of nationals born abroad returning to the country of origin of their ancestors.
• 2. 

  Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, 36/2010 "Acquisitions of citizenship slightly declining in the EU", available free of charge in pdf format on the Eurostat web site.
• 3. 

  A majority of these persons were citizens of the former Soviet Union. A recognised non-citizen is a person who is neither a citizen of the reporting country nor of any other country, and who has established links to the reporting country which include some but not all rights and obligations of full citizenship.

Eurostat press releases on the internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat