Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
F2: Population and Migration
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
15 August 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
15 August 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
15 August 2025
3.1. Data description
Within the broader statistical domain of residence permits statistics, EU Blue Card statistics refer to non-EU citizens and their family members receiving an authorisation to reside under the framework of Directive 2009/50/EC on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment (hereafter the EU Blue Card Directive). Starting with the 2024 reference period, Eurostat produces these statistics under the framework of Directive (EU) 2021/1883 which is repealing Directive 2009/50/EC.
The authorisation to reside issued to the highly skilled worker under this framework is named the EU Blue Card. The family members of the EU Blue Card holder receive, in this context, residence permits for family reunification with the EU Blue Cards holder under the same frameworks that connect with the Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification.
Ireland and Denmark are not bound by Directive 2009/50/EC or Directive (EU) 2021/1883 and these directives are not applicable for EFTA countries. Therefore, these Member States should not send the statistics based on EU Blue Cards.
EU Blue Card statistics refer to three main topics for the reference period 2012-2023:
EU Blue Cards granted, renewed and withdrawn. See table EU Blue Cards by type of decision, occupation and citizenship.
Authorisation to reside issued to family members of EU Blue Card holders under EU Blue Card Directive. See table Admitted family members of EU Blue Cards holders by type of decision and citizenship.
Intra-EU mobility cases under Articles 18 and 19 of the EU Blue Card Directive. See table EU Blue Cards holders and family members by Member State of previous residence.
Starting with the 2024 reference period, EU Blue Card statistics cover the following topics:
Decisions on EU Blue Cards (EU Blue Cards issued, renewed or withdrawn).
Decisions on residence permits for family reunification with EU Blue Card holder.
EU Blue Card holders admitted to long-term mobility.
Rejected applications for EU Blue Cards.
EU Blue Cards holders beneficiaries of international protection.
EU Blue Cards holders beneficiaries of free movement rights.
Former EU Blue Card holders with long-term permits.
Several categories were added in EU Blue Cards statistics starting with 2024 reference period and they are shown online as data not available for previous years.
Data source
Data is based on administrative sources, provided mainly by the Ministries of Interior or related immigration agencies.
Data dissemination
Eurostat will publish the received data shortly after the validation, expecting that more files will be disseminated after the deadline for data transmission on November 18, every year.
Recent developments
Starting with 2024 reference period, EU Blue Cards statistics are based on a new legal framework: Directive (EU) 2021/1883. The collection of data expands in accordance with the new legal requirements, incorporating new tables and categories. In accordance with the new directive, the annual data shall be sent to Eurostat by 18 November of each year.
See Annex 1 Residence Permits Technical Guidelines (guidelines on EU Blue Cards statistics included for 2012-2023 reference period) and Annex 2 EU Blue Cards Technical Guidelines revised in 2024.
3.2. Classification system
Classification for the citizenship category is based on the ISO-3166 code list (using alpha-2) with minor changes. These differences consist of minor changes that have occurred over time to reflect the creation of new countries or citizenships. In some cases, these citizenship categories are not universally recognised but are used by some Member States in the data supplied to Eurostat.
A further case is that of"Recognised non-citizen"– a category introduced by Eurostat to cover a "person who is not a citizen of the reporting country nor of any other country, but who has established links to that country including some but not all rights and obligations of full citizenship. Recognised non-citizens are not included in the number of EU citizens." This category is used in Eurostat's population and migration statistics.
Classification for the category occupation is based on the 'International Standard Classification of Occupations, 2008 version' (ISCO-08), using only three major groups 1 (Managers) and 2 (Professionals) and 3 (Technicians and Associate Professionals).
Migration and asylum – Residence permits statistics, EU Blue Cards.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Highly qualified employment means the employment of a person who:
in the Member State concerned, is protected as an employee under national employment law and/or in accordance with national practice, irrespective of the legal relationship, for the purpose of exercising genuine and effective work for, or under the direction of, someone else,
is paid, and,
has the required adequate and specific competence, as proven by higher professional qualifications (Article 2(b) from Directive 2003/109/EC).
Higher professional qualifications means qualifications attested by evidence of higher education qualifications or, by way of derogation, when provided for by national law, attested by at least five years of professional experience of a level comparable to higher education qualifications and which is relevant in the profession or sector specified in the work contract or binding job offer (Article 2(g) from Directive 2003/109/EC).
Higher education qualification means any diploma, certificate or other evidence of formal qualifications issued by a competent authority attesting the successful completion of a post-secondary higher education program, namely a set of courses provided by an educational establishment recognised as a higher education institution by the State in which it is situated. For the purposes of this Directive, a higher education qualification shall be taken into account, on condition that the studies needed to acquire it lasted at least three years (Article 2(h)).
Professional experience means the actual and lawful pursuit of the profession concerned (Article 2(i) from Directive 2003/109/EC).
Regulated profession means a regulated profession as defined in Article 3(1)(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC (i.e. a professional activity or group of professional activities, access to which, the pursuit of which, or one of the modes of pursuit of which is subject, directly or indirectly, by virtue of legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions to the possession of specific professional qualifications; in particular, the use of a professional title limited by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions to holders of a given professional qualification shall constitute a mode of pursuit. Where the first sentence of this definition does not apply, a profession referred to in paragraph 2 shall be treated as a regulated profession) (Article 2(j) from Directive 2003/109/EC).
EU Blue Card GRANTED means EU Blue Card issued in compliance with the following requirements:
a) when no residence permit was issued by the Member State to the person concerned before: 'EU Blue Card GRANTED' is each such permit issued by the Member State authority for the first time;
b) when a residence permit was already issued by the Member State to the person concerned in the past but for a different reason: 'EU Blue Card GRANTED' is each such permit issued by the Member State authority irrespective of the time gap between the expiry of the previous permit and the start of validity of the EU Blue Card;
c) when a residence permit (EU Blue Card) was already issued by the Member State to the person concerned in the past for the same reason: 'EU Blue Card GRANTED' is each such permit issued by the Member State authority after at least 6 months, since the expiry of the previous EU Blue Card;
Occupation - In accordance with the requirements of the Article 20 from Directive 2003/109/EC, data on EU Blue Card holders shall, as far as possible, be disaggregated by the 'Occupation' (providing this category is voluntary for MS). For the purpose of this disaggregation the 'International Standard Classification of Occupations, 2008 version' (ISCO-08) is applied. ISCO-08 is a tool for organising jobs into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the job. For more information please consult Eurostat metadata classifications server or International Labour Organization (ILO).
Length of validity refers to the length of validity of the EU Blue Card or residence permit issued. The term ‘duration’ of the permit is used as synonym in this context.
Size of employer refers to classification of the enterprise in which the EU Blue Card holder works/will work considering the following enterprises’ size classes, considering the total number of employed persons.
Economic sector means the employer’s principal activity type. This refers to the enterprise in which the EU Blue Card holder work/join. In practice, this information can be collected based on the working contract or binding job offer based on which the EU Blue Cards request is/will be issued or withdrawn.
Age disaggregation refers to the age of the person recorded at the moment when the administrative event is taking place (e.g., age when the EU Blue Cards was granted, age when EU Blue Card was renewed, age when EU Blue Card was withdrawn, etc).
3.5. Statistical unit
Each table refers to the number of persons, not to the number of administrative decisions or acts.
The statistical unit is the number of persons covered by the administrative procedures.
The same person can be counted more than once in the reporting period if such person is a subject of an outcome of different administrative procedures. However, the cases in which the same procedure is launched in parallel in multiple administrative entities shall be excluded from the reporting, and such person shall be reported only once.
Double counting one person in the same reference year is possible. For example, in the case of two EU Blue Cards granted to the same person during the same reporting year, firstly with a short length of validity and then with another EU Blue Card issued later during that year.
The same person might be reported several times in the various tables during the same reference year in case of different administrative outcomes. For example, the same person may be the subject of a permit granted and a permit withdrawn in the same year. In this case, such a person will be reported in both categories.
All family members are counted individually in case there is only one administrative decision for the entire family.
3.6. Statistical population
The Residence permits statistics refer to the third-country nationals who received a residence permit under the EU Blue Card Directive (beneficiaries of the Directive):
Beneficiaries of the permission to reside covered by the Directive:
Decisions on EU Blue Cards (EU Blue Cards issued, renewed or withdrawn).
Decisions on residence permits for family reunification with EU Blue Card holder.
EU Blue Card holders admitted to long-term mobility.
Rejected applications for EU Blue Cards.
EU Blue Cards holders beneficiaries of international protection.
EU Blue Cards holders beneficiaries of free movement rights.
Former EU Blue Card holders with long-term permits.
See "Concepts and definitions" for the details of the categories of permissions recorded under residence permits statistics.
3.7. Reference area
EU Member States, except Denmark and Ireland.
Ireland and Denmark are not bound by Directive 2003/86/EC and this directive is not applicable for EFTA countries. Therefore, these Member States should not send the statistics based on this directive.
3.8. Coverage - Time
First reference year by data collection is 2012.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Units of measure are in general absolute number of persons for residence permit statistics.
Calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Eurostat provide Technical Guidelines to the Member States describing the procedures and the quality requirements for the statistics collected on voluntary basis.
See the Annex 1 Residence Permits Technical Guidelines (guidelines on EU Blue Cards statistics included for 2012-2023 reference period) and Annex 2 EU Blue Cards Technical Guidelines revised in 2024.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
Statistical information is published in accordance with an approved release calendar.
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
The metadata are complete and accessible online on the website of Eurostat
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Eurostat provides Technical Guidelines to the Member States describing the procedures and the quality requirements for the statistics collected. See Annex 1 and Annex 2.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
See Annexes.
11.1. Quality assurance
Statistics on EU Blue Cards are based entirely on administrative sources. Member States compile data in compliance with the Council Regulation (EC) 862/2007 that lays down the common framework for the compilation of statistics on migration and international protection.
The technical guidelines The EU Blue Cards statistics follow the rules and quality aspects from both Council Regulation (EC) 862/2007 and Directive 2009/50/EC. These guidelines set the standard for quality by providing the definitions applied for the collected categories. Starting with the 2024 reference period, Eurostat produces these statistics under the framework of Directive (EU) 2021/1883 which is repealing Directive 2009/50/EC.
At national level, most of the data providers perform various checks before data transmission. At Eurostat level, data processing has an automated validation system embedded and various checks are manually performed in the data workflow before data publication.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Certain differences in definitions and practices of producing statistics might exist between countries due to the national transposition of the EU Blue Cards Directive.
Number of national authorities have introduced improved procedures to ensure that the necessary information is gathered as part of the immigration administrative process and better computing systems to allow this information to be readily accessed to be included in the statistical data.
Non-compliance follow-up measures have been launched by the Commission in response to the most serious cases of missing or incomplete data – where for example, no data have been supplied by a country in response to a data collection. Actions undertaken have demonstrated that a large majority of Member States make a serious effort to be compliant.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The statistics collected under the Directive are widely used in official publications and by a wide range of users.
Within the Commission, the main user of migration and asylum statistics is DG Migration and Home Affairs. However, these statistics on EU Blue Cards are also frequently used by other Directorates General, in particular, by DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, and by DG Justice and Consumers. These statistics are used in several publications of the Commission, as well as in the preparation of regular reports, policy proposals and analysis.
From EU policy perspective, the economic strength of the EU has been significantly improved by the contributions of highly qualified workers from non-EU countries. Specific skill and labor shortages currently exist in critical sectors of the EU market. Therefore, the EU has to attract a greater number of highly qualified workers in an international marketplace that is becoming more and more competitive.
In the area of EU Blue cards statistics, the number of users is contingent upon the statistical product, the topic it covers, and the specific statistical product in question. For example, there were around 2000 unique page views in 2024 of the table EU Blue Cards by type of decision, occupation, and citizenship. The other two tables from EU Blue Cards statistics recorded around 150 unique accesses each: 1. Admitted family members of EU Blue Cards holders by type of decision and 2. EU Blue Cards holders and family members by Member State of previous residence.
The statical explained article “Residence permits - statistics on authorisations to reside and work recorded”, in which the EU Blue Cards statistics are present, recorded a number of 4 433 unique page views.
12.3. Completeness
The implementation of the EU Blue Cards Directive has resulted in increases in the completeness and degree of harmonisation of these statistics.
However, despite these improvements, further work is still needed for some of the statistics collected and in some of the Member States at detailed level. Problems of missing and incomplete data still might occur for specific detailed categories.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Under the framework of the Directive 2009/50/EC and Council Regulation (CE) No 862 of 11 July 2007, the EU Blue Cards statistics are based mainly on administrative registers, and therefore it is expected that there is a high accuracy of the overall resulting statistics. However, the final accuracy of the data depends on the precision of the underlying administrative systems. Starting with the 2024 reference period, Eurostat produces these statistics under the framework of Directive (EU) 2021/1883 which is repealing Directive 2009/50/EC.
The national metadata file gives more details on accuracy at the national level. For example, the absence of certain detailed categories in the statistical system could lead to specific accuracy problems.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
Data should be supplied to Eurostat no later than November 18, every year.
14.2. Punctuality
Eurostat will publish the received data shortly after the validation, expecting that more files will be disseminated after the deadline for data transmission on November 18, every year.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Some administrative differences still exist between the Member States due to the national specific EU Directive transposition and particular institutional configuration.
For the analytical purposes and comparisons between the countries please see the national metadata files.
15.2. Comparability - over time
EU Blue Card statistics should be compiled based on the same reference methodology, and the outputs should be comparable between years. Due to ongoing methodological improvements or revisions to administrative systems that may occur at different reference periods, Member States may apply slightly different processing rules between the years for certain permit categories. For the analytical purposes and comparisons between the years, please see the national metadata files.
When a change in the standards for defining and observing a variable over time causes a break in the time series, Eurostat uses the flag "b" to signal this change between years.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Internal coherence (e.g. between years, a coherent classification of issued permits) is ensured through the application of the reference methodological guidelines and through the various validations performed on the data before publication. An important aspect is that residence permit data collection is based on administrative sources following almost the same procedures.
We expect specific coherence between linked tables in the residence permit statistics. For instance, the initial issuance of EU Blue Cards should align with the total number of EU Blue Cards issued during the same reference period, taking into account the methodological difference between these tables.
The types of statistics required under the Directive 2009/50/EC are also needed for national purposes, such as for the migration policy management including labour migration. In almost all cases, the data used to produce the statistics are based on existing administrative and statistical systems. The specific burden placed by the EU Blue Cards Directive on national authorities are therefore related to the need to prepare particular disaggregations or tables that might not otherwise have been produced and to the need to apply the harmonized statistical definitions and concepts. For some national authorities, this resulted in one-off costs associated with the necessary adaptations to methods, procedures, and systems.
The extent of the additional burden may vary between the Member States according to the degree of similarity between the existing national systems for migration statistics and the requirements of the Directive 2009/50/EC. However, in most Member States and for most of the statistics covered by the legal requirements, the additional costs and burden are believed to be limited and to be proportionate to the benefits obtained at both the EU and national level of having more complete and better-harmonized migration statistics.
17.1. Data revision - policy
The general Eurostat revision policy applies to this domain. According to the policy for routine revisions, national data continue to be revised when additional information from national authorities becomes available. If errors are detected in either national data or in European aggregates, they are corrected immediately. Major revisions and changes in methodology which may lead to breaks in time series shall be announced in advance by the national data providers and approved by Eurostat.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The revision practice aligns effectively with the one outlined in sub-concept 17.1 (data revision - policy). Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated. Whenever new country data are validated, the already disseminated data are updated. Revisions of aggregates are made directly after revisions of country data transmitted to Eurostat. Time series breaks caused by major revisions are flagged. Major revisions are documented and communicated to users in a methodological note. Data may be published despite incomplete datasets, with some data missing or flagged as provisional or, in very exceptional cases, of low reliability for specific statistics. Such data are replaced with the final versions upon transmission and validation. The impact of major revisions is analysed in working documents produced for experts meetings held with representatives of the national data providers.
18.1. Source data
Most of the statistics are based on administrative data sources only. Data are compiled from the administrative records of the national authorities, mainly the Ministries of Interior or Immigration Agencies.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
EU Blue Cards data is annually collected from administrative sources, having as a statistical unit the number of persons receiving the authorisation to reside under the framework of Directive 2009/50/EC.
The national authorities from the countries implementing this directive have the obligation to collect the required variable at the national level and to send the resulting statistics to Eurostat in a specific data format. The collected files should pass the automated validation procedure in the first stage of quality assessment at Eurostat level.
Please see the technical guidelines in Annex 1 and Annex 2 for further information on the data collection.
18.4. Data validation
Before publishing the data, consistent validation checks are performed. EU Blue Cards data are validated through all processing steps, combining manual/visual validation with some tools integrated within the templates and the production environment.
The Member States shall apply the validation checks of the permit statistics before providing data to Eurostat. The statistical process is different in each country. Therefore, each country shall develop its own data validation system, depending on the national infrastructure.
With the aim of assuring the data quality and for harmonising the validation systems between Member States, Eurostat is involved in the following four main activities:
Setting the methodological framework for producing harmonised statistics between the Member States. The methodological requirements are specified in the Technical Guidelines for data collection.
Promote the exchange of good practices between MSs related to the data processing and validation procedures. In this respect, different quality aspects of the statistics produced by Eurostat have been presented to the data providers.
Establishing a set of validation rules that should be applied to all the files that are provided to Eurostat
Provide some IT tools for data validation (e.g. automated data validation for minimal quality equirements) that allow data providers to check the files before data transmission.
18.5. Data compilation
List of EU aggregates used in EU Blue Cards statistics:
EU28 aggregate refers to European Union before the Brexit. This aggregate covers the following countries: BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK.
EU27_2020 aggregate refers to European Union (27 countries without the United Kingdom). This aggregate covers the following countries: BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE.
EU aggregates are calculated only if all the Member States from the aggregate are available.
Within the broader statistical domain of residence permits statistics, EU Blue Card statistics refer to non-EU citizens and their family members receiving an authorisation to reside under the framework of Directive 2009/50/EC on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of highly qualified employment (hereafter the EU Blue Card Directive). Starting with the 2024 reference period, Eurostat produces these statistics under the framework of Directive (EU) 2021/1883 which is repealing Directive 2009/50/EC.
The authorisation to reside issued to the highly skilled worker under this framework is named the EU Blue Card. The family members of the EU Blue Card holder receive, in this context, residence permits for family reunification with the EU Blue Cards holder under the same frameworks that connect with the Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification.
Ireland and Denmark are not bound by Directive 2009/50/EC or Directive (EU) 2021/1883 and these directives are not applicable for EFTA countries. Therefore, these Member States should not send the statistics based on EU Blue Cards.
EU Blue Card statistics refer to three main topics for the reference period 2012-2023:
EU Blue Cards granted, renewed and withdrawn. See table EU Blue Cards by type of decision, occupation and citizenship.
Authorisation to reside issued to family members of EU Blue Card holders under EU Blue Card Directive. See table Admitted family members of EU Blue Cards holders by type of decision and citizenship.
Intra-EU mobility cases under Articles 18 and 19 of the EU Blue Card Directive. See table EU Blue Cards holders and family members by Member State of previous residence.
Starting with the 2024 reference period, EU Blue Card statistics cover the following topics:
Decisions on EU Blue Cards (EU Blue Cards issued, renewed or withdrawn).
Decisions on residence permits for family reunification with EU Blue Card holder.
EU Blue Card holders admitted to long-term mobility.
Rejected applications for EU Blue Cards.
EU Blue Cards holders beneficiaries of international protection.
EU Blue Cards holders beneficiaries of free movement rights.
Former EU Blue Card holders with long-term permits.
Several categories were added in EU Blue Cards statistics starting with 2024 reference period and they are shown online as data not available for previous years.
Data source
Data is based on administrative sources, provided mainly by the Ministries of Interior or related immigration agencies.
Data dissemination
Eurostat will publish the received data shortly after the validation, expecting that more files will be disseminated after the deadline for data transmission on November 18, every year.
Recent developments
Starting with 2024 reference period, EU Blue Cards statistics are based on a new legal framework: Directive (EU) 2021/1883. The collection of data expands in accordance with the new legal requirements, incorporating new tables and categories. In accordance with the new directive, the annual data shall be sent to Eurostat by 18 November of each year.
See Annex 1 Residence Permits Technical Guidelines (guidelines on EU Blue Cards statistics included for 2012-2023 reference period) and Annex 2 EU Blue Cards Technical Guidelines revised in 2024.
15 August 2025
Highly qualified employment means the employment of a person who:
in the Member State concerned, is protected as an employee under national employment law and/or in accordance with national practice, irrespective of the legal relationship, for the purpose of exercising genuine and effective work for, or under the direction of, someone else,
is paid, and,
has the required adequate and specific competence, as proven by higher professional qualifications (Article 2(b) from Directive 2003/109/EC).
Higher professional qualifications means qualifications attested by evidence of higher education qualifications or, by way of derogation, when provided for by national law, attested by at least five years of professional experience of a level comparable to higher education qualifications and which is relevant in the profession or sector specified in the work contract or binding job offer (Article 2(g) from Directive 2003/109/EC).
Higher education qualification means any diploma, certificate or other evidence of formal qualifications issued by a competent authority attesting the successful completion of a post-secondary higher education program, namely a set of courses provided by an educational establishment recognised as a higher education institution by the State in which it is situated. For the purposes of this Directive, a higher education qualification shall be taken into account, on condition that the studies needed to acquire it lasted at least three years (Article 2(h)).
Professional experience means the actual and lawful pursuit of the profession concerned (Article 2(i) from Directive 2003/109/EC).
Regulated profession means a regulated profession as defined in Article 3(1)(a) of Directive 2005/36/EC (i.e. a professional activity or group of professional activities, access to which, the pursuit of which, or one of the modes of pursuit of which is subject, directly or indirectly, by virtue of legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions to the possession of specific professional qualifications; in particular, the use of a professional title limited by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions to holders of a given professional qualification shall constitute a mode of pursuit. Where the first sentence of this definition does not apply, a profession referred to in paragraph 2 shall be treated as a regulated profession) (Article 2(j) from Directive 2003/109/EC).
EU Blue Card GRANTED means EU Blue Card issued in compliance with the following requirements:
a) when no residence permit was issued by the Member State to the person concerned before: 'EU Blue Card GRANTED' is each such permit issued by the Member State authority for the first time;
b) when a residence permit was already issued by the Member State to the person concerned in the past but for a different reason: 'EU Blue Card GRANTED' is each such permit issued by the Member State authority irrespective of the time gap between the expiry of the previous permit and the start of validity of the EU Blue Card;
c) when a residence permit (EU Blue Card) was already issued by the Member State to the person concerned in the past for the same reason: 'EU Blue Card GRANTED' is each such permit issued by the Member State authority after at least 6 months, since the expiry of the previous EU Blue Card;
Occupation - In accordance with the requirements of the Article 20 from Directive 2003/109/EC, data on EU Blue Card holders shall, as far as possible, be disaggregated by the 'Occupation' (providing this category is voluntary for MS). For the purpose of this disaggregation the 'International Standard Classification of Occupations, 2008 version' (ISCO-08) is applied. ISCO-08 is a tool for organising jobs into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the job. For more information please consult Eurostat metadata classifications server or International Labour Organization (ILO).
Length of validity refers to the length of validity of the EU Blue Card or residence permit issued. The term ‘duration’ of the permit is used as synonym in this context.
Size of employer refers to classification of the enterprise in which the EU Blue Card holder works/will work considering the following enterprises’ size classes, considering the total number of employed persons.
Economic sector means the employer’s principal activity type. This refers to the enterprise in which the EU Blue Card holder work/join. In practice, this information can be collected based on the working contract or binding job offer based on which the EU Blue Cards request is/will be issued or withdrawn.
Age disaggregation refers to the age of the person recorded at the moment when the administrative event is taking place (e.g., age when the EU Blue Cards was granted, age when EU Blue Card was renewed, age when EU Blue Card was withdrawn, etc).
Each table refers to the number of persons, not to the number of administrative decisions or acts.
The statistical unit is the number of persons covered by the administrative procedures.
The same person can be counted more than once in the reporting period if such person is a subject of an outcome of different administrative procedures. However, the cases in which the same procedure is launched in parallel in multiple administrative entities shall be excluded from the reporting, and such person shall be reported only once.
Double counting one person in the same reference year is possible. For example, in the case of two EU Blue Cards granted to the same person during the same reporting year, firstly with a short length of validity and then with another EU Blue Card issued later during that year.
The same person might be reported several times in the various tables during the same reference year in case of different administrative outcomes. For example, the same person may be the subject of a permit granted and a permit withdrawn in the same year. In this case, such a person will be reported in both categories.
All family members are counted individually in case there is only one administrative decision for the entire family.
The Residence permits statistics refer to the third-country nationals who received a residence permit under the EU Blue Card Directive (beneficiaries of the Directive):
Beneficiaries of the permission to reside covered by the Directive:
Decisions on EU Blue Cards (EU Blue Cards issued, renewed or withdrawn).
Decisions on residence permits for family reunification with EU Blue Card holder.
EU Blue Card holders admitted to long-term mobility.
Rejected applications for EU Blue Cards.
EU Blue Cards holders beneficiaries of international protection.
EU Blue Cards holders beneficiaries of free movement rights.
Former EU Blue Card holders with long-term permits.
See "Concepts and definitions" for the details of the categories of permissions recorded under residence permits statistics.
EU Member States, except Denmark and Ireland.
Ireland and Denmark are not bound by Directive 2003/86/EC and this directive is not applicable for EFTA countries. Therefore, these Member States should not send the statistics based on this directive.
Calendar year.
Under the framework of the Directive 2009/50/EC and Council Regulation (CE) No 862 of 11 July 2007, the EU Blue Cards statistics are based mainly on administrative registers, and therefore it is expected that there is a high accuracy of the overall resulting statistics. However, the final accuracy of the data depends on the precision of the underlying administrative systems. Starting with the 2024 reference period, Eurostat produces these statistics under the framework of Directive (EU) 2021/1883 which is repealing Directive 2009/50/EC.
The national metadata file gives more details on accuracy at the national level. For example, the absence of certain detailed categories in the statistical system could lead to specific accuracy problems.
Units of measure are in general absolute number of persons for residence permit statistics.
List of EU aggregates used in EU Blue Cards statistics:
EU28 aggregate refers to European Union before the Brexit. This aggregate covers the following countries: BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE, UK.
EU27_2020 aggregate refers to European Union (27 countries without the United Kingdom). This aggregate covers the following countries: BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, IE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE.
EU aggregates are calculated only if all the Member States from the aggregate are available.
Most of the statistics are based on administrative data sources only. Data are compiled from the administrative records of the national authorities, mainly the Ministries of Interior or Immigration Agencies.
Annual.
Data should be supplied to Eurostat no later than November 18, every year.
Some administrative differences still exist between the Member States due to the national specific EU Directive transposition and particular institutional configuration.
For the analytical purposes and comparisons between the countries please see the national metadata files.
EU Blue Card statistics should be compiled based on the same reference methodology, and the outputs should be comparable between years. Due to ongoing methodological improvements or revisions to administrative systems that may occur at different reference periods, Member States may apply slightly different processing rules between the years for certain permit categories. For the analytical purposes and comparisons between the years, please see the national metadata files.
When a change in the standards for defining and observing a variable over time causes a break in the time series, Eurostat uses the flag "b" to signal this change between years.
