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In 2008 696,000 persons acquired citizenship of an EU27 member state; 29% were Africans; 3,250 new Irish in 2008
By Finfacts Team
Jul 6, 2010 - 3:48:09 PM
In 2008, 696,000 persons acquired
citizenship 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 report issued by Eurostat, the statistics 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-citizens.
