In 2021, 139 000 non-EU citizens were refused entry into the EU territory while 681 200 were found to be illegally present in one of the EU Member States. The number of non-EU citizens issued with an order to leave an EU Member State was 342 100. Following an order to leave, 82 700 non-EU citizens were returned to another country (including other EU Member States).
This information comes from data on enforcement of immigration legislation published by Eurostat today. The article presents a selection of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.
Source datasets: migr_eirfs, migr_eipre, migr_eiord1, migr_eirtn1
Non-EU citizens refused entry in the EU: +1% compared with 2020
In 2021, some 139 000 non-EU citizens were refused entry into the EU at one of its external borders, up 1% compared with 137 800 in the previous year.
The largest number of refusals of entry in 2021 were reported by Hungary (34 700), followed by Poland (26 200), Croatia (14 200) and Romania (11 000).
Ukrainian citizens accounted for the largest number of refusals in 2021 (50 200). The next largest numbers were recorded for citizens of Albania (18 600) and Moldova (9 100).
Illegally present non-EU citizens: +22% compared with 2020
In 2021, around 681 200 non-EU citizens were found to be illegally present in the EU. This was up 22% compared with 2020 (557 500).
France reported the largest number of non-EU citizens found to be illegally present in 2021 (215 200), followed by Hungary (134 100) and Germany (120 300).
Syrians accounted for the highest number of people found to be illegally present in the EU in 2021 (79 800). The next highest numbers were recorded for citizens of Algeria (56 800) and Afghanistan (52 800).
Non-EU citizens ordered to leave EU Member States: -14% compared with 2020
In 2021, some 342 100 non-EU citizens were ordered to leave the territory of the EU Member States, down 14% compared with the previous year (396 400).
Among EU Member States, France reported the largest number of non-EU citizens ordered to leave its territory in 2021 (125 500), followed by Germany (31 500) and Greece (28 800).
In 2021, the highest number of people ordered to leave an EU Member State territory was observed among Algerians (26 400), Albanians (22 000) and Moroccans (21 800).
Around 82 700 non-EU citizens returned to another country
In 2021, some 82 700 non-EU citizens returned to another country following an order to leave the territory of a specific EU Member State.
France reported the largest number of non-EU citizens returned in 2021 (14 400), followed by Germany (10 300) and Sweden (9 300).
Ukrainians and Albanians (9 400 each) topped the list of non-EU citizens returned to another country in 2021, followed by Georgians (5 400) and Pakistanis (3 200).
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on enforcement of immigration legislation statistics
- Statistics Explained article on enforcement of immigration legislation statistics methodology
- Dedicated section on managed migration statistics
- Database on managed migration statistics
To contact us, please visit our User Support page.
For press queries, please contact our Media Support.