EU Member States granted citizenship to over 700 thousand people in 2019
4851 Min Read
In 2019, around 706 400 persons acquired citizenship of an EU Member State where they lived, up from 672 300 in 2018 and 700 600 in 2017. The majority of those who obtained the citizenship of an EU Member State in 2019 were previously citizens of a non-EU country or stateless, while former citizens of another EU Member State accounted for 13% of the total number of citizenships acquired.
Moroccans, Albanians and Britons were the main recipients
In 2019, Moroccans were the largest group among new EU-citizens (66 800 persons, of whom 84% acquired citizenship of Spain, Italy or France), ahead of Albanians (41 700, 62% acquired citizenship of Italy), Britons (29 800, 75% acquired citizenship of Germany, Sweden or France), Syrians (29 100, 69% acquired citizenship of Sweden), Turks (28 600, 57% acquired German citizenship), Romanians (26 600, 60% acquired citizenship of Italy or Germany), Brazilians (23 500, 73% acquired citizenship of Italy or Portugal), Ukrainians (18 100, 59% acquired citizenship of Germany, Poland or Italy), Algerians (18 000, 82% acquired French citizenship) and Russians (16 400, 31% acquired German citizenship). Compared to 2018, Moroccans and Albanians remained the main recipients, while Britons moved from seventh to third place.
Romanians (26 600 persons), Poles (12 600) and Italians (8 700) remained the three largest groups of EU citizens acquiring citizenship of another EU Member State, the same as in 2018.
Most new citizenships were granted by Germany (132 000 or 19% of the EU total), Italy (127 000 or 18%), France (109 800 or 16%), Spain (99 000 or 14%) and Sweden (64 200 or 9%) accounting for 75% of new citizenships granted in the EU in 2019.
