Residence permits - statistics on stock of permits at the end of the year

Data extracted: 7 November 2025.

Planned article update: November 2026.

Highlights

At the end of 2024, there were 26.5 million residence permits held by non-EU citizens in the EU.

At the end of 2024, family reunification accounted for a third (32.6%) of residence permits held by non-EU citizens in the EU.

Moroccan (2.2 million), Turkish (2.0 million) and Ukrainian (1.6 million) citizens were the 3 main groups of citizenship holding residence permits in the EU at the end of 2024.

This article provides an overview of the stock of valid residence permits granted to non-EU citizens at the end of 2024. In addition, it presents the developments of the stock between the end of 2015 and the end of 2024. Different aspects are analysed, such as the reasons for issuing the permits, the duration of permits and the citizenship of persons to whom the permits were granted.

This article does not include information on temporary protection of refugees from Ukraine in EU countries resulting from Russia's military aggression against that country. Note that a complementary article provides information on the number of first residence permits issued during the year.

Non-EU citizens with a residence permit

At the end of 2024, there were 26.5 million residence permits granted to non-EU citizens. Germany (5.6 million permits), France (4.3 million), Spain (4.1 million) and Italy (3.9 million) together accounted for 67.3% of the total residence permits granted to non-EU citizens. The number of persons holding residence permits relative to the EU population was 59 permits per thousand people at the end of 2024. Among the EU countries, the highest ratios were observed in Malta (209 permits per thousand people), Cyprus (168), Estonia (138) and Latvia (133), while the lowest were recorded in Slovakia (26) Hungary (23), Bulgaria (19), and Romania (8) (Map 1).

Map 1: Stock of residence permits granted to non-EU citizens relative to the size of the population, 2024 (number per 1 000 people) Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid) and (demo_gind)

Stock of residence permits granted to non-EU citizens at the end of 2024

The stock of residence permits granted to non-EU citizens to reside in the EU increased by 5.2% between the end of 2023 and the end of 2024 (Figure 1). Among all EU countries, 22 reported an increase in the stock of permits. The highest rate was recorded in Portugal where the stock of permits granted to non-EU citizens increased by 69.9%, followed by Croatia (up 25.1%) and Cyprus (up 22.2%). By contrast, Latvia (down 3.7%) and Sweden (down 4.0%) experienced slight declines in the stock of residence permits granted to non-EU citizens. Among the four EU countries with the largest stocks of resident permits, Spain recorded the highest increase, as the number of permits rose by 6.6%. Increases were also recorded in Italy (up 4.6%), France (up 4.1%) while Germany reported a decrease (down 1.9%).

Figure 1

Figure 2 provides an analysis of the reasons for which residence permits were granted. At the end of 2024, around one-third (32.6%) of all residence permits granted to non-EU^[1] citizens were for family-related reasons, with lower shares for employment reasons (21.2%), refugee and subsidiary protection status (14.7%) or education reasons (4.9%). Residence permits classified for 'other reasons' accounted for 26.6% of all permits.

At the end of 2024, among the EU countries, more than half of all the residence permits granted to non-EU citizens in Belgium (56.4%) were family-related while this share was slightly lower in Luxembourg (49.9%), Sweden (49.2 %) and Italy (42.1%). Germany (2.1 million), Italy (1.6 million), Spain (1.5 million) and France (1.4 million) recorded the highest absolute numbers of permits issued for this reason.

More than half of the stock of residence permits for non-EU citizens at the end of 2024 was granted for employment reasons in Croatia (80.1%), Lithuania (70.9%), Malta (66.5%), Slovakia (59.4%), Poland (58.5%) and Romania (56.7%). In absolute terms, Italy registered the highest number of residence permits for employment reasons (1.7 million), considerably greater than in Poland (683 100) where the second highest number was observed.

In Germany, refugee and subsidiary protection status accounted 46.3% of all residence permits for non-EU citizens at the end of 2024, followed by Sweden (22.7%), Belgium (16.7%), the Netherlands (14.8%) and France (13.1%). In absolute terms, Germany granted the highest number of residence permits to non-EU citizens for refugee status and subsidiary protection (2.6 million), followed by France (558 285), Italy (142 155) and Netherlands (125 743).

Figure 2

At the end of 2024, 91.0% of residence permits at EU level granted to non-EU citizens were valid for 12 months or more, compared with 6.0% valid for 6 to 11 months and 3.0% valid for 3 to 5 months (Figure 3). This predominance of permits valid for at least 12 months was observed across all the EU countries except Croatia, where most permits were valid for 6 to 11 months. The share of residence permits valid for 12 months or longer ranged from 46.4% in Portugal and 69.4% in Poland up to 100% in Greece. The highest share of residence permits with a validity period of 6 to 11 months was observed in Croatia (80.3%). Meanwhile, Portugal had the highest percentage of residence permits valid for 3 to 5 months, at 40.5%.

Figure 3

Developments for the stock of residence permits

Across the EU, there was an increase of 49.8% between the end of 2015 and the end of 2024 in the stock of residence permits granted to non-EU citizens. The most rapid increase was recorded for residence permits granted for refugee or subsidiary protection status, from 0.8 million to 3.9 million (Figure 4). Between the end of 2015 and the end of 2024, the increase in the stock of permits was smaller for employment reasons (up 101.9%), education reasons (up 96.9%), family reasons (up 23.6%) and other reasons (up 8.3%).

Figure 4

Figure 5 presents developments among the four EU countries having the largest number of permits between the end of 2015 and the end of 2024. In Germany, the stock of residence permits increased from 3.8 million in 2015 to 4.9 million in 2019, dropped to 4.2 million in 2020, rebounded to 5.7 million in 2023, and then slightly decreased to 5.6 million in 2024. In France, the number of permits rose every year, from 2.6 million in 2015 to 4.3 million in 2024; a similar trend was observed in Spain, up from 2.6 million in 2015 to 4.1 million in 2024. In Italy, the stock of residence permits slightly declined from 3.9 million to 3.4 million between 2015 and 2020, before gradually increasing again to 3.9 million by 2024.

Figure 5

Between the end of 2015 and the end of 2024, the increase in the stock of residence permits granted to non-EU citizens in the EU was influenced by a rapid rise in the number of permits granted to persons benefiting from refugee or subsidiary protection status. Figure 6 shows that permits granted to subsidiary protection status rose from 0.2 million at the end of 2015 to 1.6 million by the end of 2024 while refugee status increased from 0.5 million to 2.3 million over the same period.

Figure 6

Citizenship of the permit holders

Map 2 provides an overview of the countries of citizenship of the holders of residence permits in the EU at the end of 2024. The stock of residence permits was highest for citizens of Morocco (2.2 million) and Türkiye (2.0 million), followed by citizens of Ukraine (1.6 million), China (including Hong Kong) (1.1 million) and Syria (1 million). These were the only countries whose citizens held more than one million residence permits. The next highest numbers were recorded for citizens of India (931 607), the United Kingdom (923 905), Russia (875 613), Albania (839 825), and Algeria (779 588). By the end of 2024, citizens of these 10 countries accounted for almost a half (46.3%) of the total stock of residence permits held by non-EU citizens in the EU.

Map 2: Distribution of residence permits in the EU by country of citizenship of the permit holders, 2024
(number of permits)
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid)

Table 1 provides a more detailed analysis for the top 10 countries with the highest stock of permits (as identified above). It shows for example that 83.3% of all residence permits held by Algerian citizens were reported by France, while Germany reported 68.3% of permits held by Syrian citizens and close to two-thirds (64.4%) of those held by Turkish citizens. The next highest shares of residence permits were observed for British citizens in Spain (45.8%), Albanian citizens in Italy (44.9%), Moroccan citizens in Spain (42.5%) and Ukrainian citizens in Poland (39.2%).

Table 1: Distribution of residence permits by main issuing EU countries, 2024
Source: Eurostat (migr_resvalid)

Developments for residence permits by citizenship and by reason

For several of the top 10 countries of citizenship of the permit holders, between the end of 2020 and the end of 2024 there was a clear change in the stock of residence permits (Figure 7), with some variations in 2020 partly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stock of residence permits for citizens of Ukraine, Türkiye, Russia, and India increased noticeably over this period. The sharpest rise was recorded for Ukrainians in 2021, while India showed steady growth throughout, reaching its highest level in 2024.
China (including Hong Kong), Algeria, and Morocco recorded more moderate increases, with Morocco remaining the citizenship with the highest number of residence permits overall.
The number of residence permits held by citizens of Albania and Syria remained stable between 2020 and 2024, fluctuating only slightly around 0.8–0.9 million for Albanians and around 1.0 million for Syrians.
The situation for the United Kingdom was exceptional, reflecting its withdrawal from the EU on 31 January 2020. There were almost no residence permits for British citizens at the end of 2020, but their number increased sharply in 2021 and remained stable through 2024.

Figure 7

Among the top 10 non-EU countries whose citizens had the highest numbers of permits to reside in the EU at the end of 2024, Figure 8 provides a more detailed analysis according to the reasons for which the permits were granted. Among Albanian citizens, 47.6% had a permit granted for family-related reasons. As with citizens of Albania, family was also the principal reason for granting residence permits to citizens of Morocco (43.9%), Russia (37.9%) and China (including Hong Kong) (32.6%). Employment-related reasons were predominant among Ukrainians (47.0%) and Indians (44.5%). Most Syrian and Turkish citizens had a permit granted for reasons related to their refugee or subsidiary protection status (respectively 79.4% and 37.1%). Citizens of the United Kingdom (80.1%) and Algeria (46.8%) mainly benefited from residence permits granted for other reasons.

Figure 8

Source data for tables and graphs

Statistics on the stock of residence permits: tables and figures

Data sources

The data used in this article – based entirely on administrative sources – are supplied to Eurostat as part of an annual residence permits data collection exercise according to the requirements of Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection. Commission Regulation (EU) No 216/2010 on Community statistics on migration and international protection, as regards the definitions of categories of the reasons for issuing residence permits, provides the list and definition of reasons for residence permits being issued.

Since the 2008 reference year, Eurostat has collected data on permits that have been granted to nationals of non-member countries to reside in the EU. Data on residence permits may be analysed by:

reporting country – the EU country (or EFTA country) granting the residence permit;
citizenship of the permit holder;
reason for the permit being issued – family formation and reunification; education and study; remunerated activities (employment); refugee status; subsidiary protection status; other reasons;
the length of validity of the permit – for at least 3 months but less than 6 months; for at least 6 months but less than 12 months; for 12 months or longer.

Statistics on residence permits are available as both stocks and flows. Data on stocks relate to all residence permits at the end of the reference year, in other words, the total stock of residence permits including renewed permits.

Certain methodological aspects are not fully harmonised between the reporting countries due to different legal and/or information technology systems. Therefore, the results that are presented in this article should be interpreted with care and readers are advised to make reference to the metadata file on residence permits statistics.

The "u" flag in Irish stock residence permits data highlights limited data quality reported by the Irish authorities. For the process of generating resident permits data that involves both the Irish Police and the Department of Justice an old information system is currently being used. The current system's limitations, which misses unique identifier of persons, require manual data checks, which may lead to potential quality issues. According to the Irish authorities, a comprehensive modernisation programme of the information systems to ensure more accurate data management is in progress.

Context

Migration policies within the EU are built upon solidarity and responsibility, taking account of the contribution that immigrants make to the EU's economic development and performance. Within the European Commission, the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs is responsible for immigration policy.

EU policy measures on legal immigration cover the conditions of entry and residence for certain categories of immigrants. The Single Permit Directive (2011/98/EU) establishes rules for a single application/permit and equal treatment provisions for non-EU citizens. The legislation does not apply to certain categories of non-EU citizens, such as highly qualified workers subject to the EU Blue Card Directive, some students, or various persons working temporarily (for example, as seasonal workers or au pairs), or to migrants who have lived in the EU for at least 5 years and have applied and been granted long-term residence status, as defined in Council Directive 2003/109/EC concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents. Equally, the legislation concerning the Single Permit Directive does not apply in Denmark or Ireland (each of which has special arrangements for immigration and asylum policy).

All relevant legal acts and information regarding the EU's immigration policy can be accessed on the European Commission's website.

In September 2020, the European Commission presented the Pact on Migration and Asylum which was adopted by the European Parliament in April 2024 and by the Council in May 2024 and will start to apply as of July 2026. The Pact on Migration and Asylum is a comprehensive approach that delivers a common European response to migration. It allows the EU to manage migration in a fair and sustainable way.

Footnotes

The categories for refugee and subsidiary protection status exclude data from Austria, Malta, and Hungary, as well as partial data from Spain for subsidiary protection, due to missing data for the reference year 2024. ↑

Explore further

Database

Managed migration (migr_man)

Thematic section

Managed migration

Publications

Methodology

Residence permits (ESMS metadata file – migr_res_esms)

External links

[1] The categories for refugee and subsidiary protection status exclude data from Austria, Malta, and Hungary, as well as partial data from Spain for subsidiary protection, due to missing data for the reference year 2024. ↑

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