Migrant integration statistics - active citizenship

Data from 22 September 2026

Planned article update: November 2027

Highlights

In 2024, 3.6% of non-EU citizens residing in the EU acquired the citizenship of the EU country of their usual residence.

At the end of 2025, long-term residence permits represented 46% of all residence rights held by non-EU citizens having their usual residence in the EU.

Active citizenship covers civic and political participation in society. In the context of migrant integration, it includes migrants' participation and their acquisition of equal rights and responsibilities.

This article presents information on two key indicators of migrant integration. They are part of the Zaragoza indicators which were agreed by the European Union (EU) countries in April 2010. More specifically, the article presents statistics on:

the naturalisation rate, calculated as the ratio of the total number of citizenships granted during the year over the stock of non-national population in a country at the beginning of the year
the share of non-EU citizens having long-term residency status, calculated as the number of long-term (at least 5 years) residents who are non-EU citizens at the end of the year relative to the total number of non-EU citizens holding residency rights at the same time

This article forms part of the online Eurostat publication Migrant integration statistics - facts and figures.

Naturalisation rate

Foreign citizens, also referred to as non-nationals, are people who do not hold the citizenship of the country where they live. They include both citizens of other EU countries and non-EU citizens. Figure 1 shows naturalisation rates in the EU between 2020 and 2024 for foreign citizens as a whole and separately for these two groups, based on their previous citizenship.

Between 2020 and 2022, the overall naturalisation rate increased from 2.0% to 2.6%, stabilising around 2.7% in 2024. The increase was mainly driven by non-EU nationals, whose rate went up from 2.8% to 3.6% over the period 2020-2022. Throughout the period, the naturalisation rate was considerably higher for non-EU citizens than for citizens of another EU country.

Figure 1

In 2024, the share of non-EU citizens residing in EU countries who acquired the citizenship of an EU country was 3.6%. In the same year, 0.9% of all EU citizens residing in an EU country other than the one of their citizenship acquired the citizenship of that EU country.

Among the EU countries, the highest naturalisation rates for non-EU citizens in 2024 were observed in Sweden (8.9%), the Netherlands (7.1%), and Belgium (6.6%; see Figure 2). By contrast, the lowest rates were recorded in Lithuania (0.1%), and Estonia and Bulgaria (both 0.3%). For EU citizens acquiring the citizenship of another EU country, the highest shares were recorded in Sweden (4.5%), Belgium (1.6%), and Luxembourg (1.4%).

Figure 2

Long-term residence permits for non-EU citizens

The data presented in this part of the article refer only to non-EU citizens. The focus is on non-EU citizens who received a long-term residence permit for a minimum period of at least 5 years validity, which provides them with a higher level of stability about their residence status.

Figure 3 shows a steady decline in the share of long-term residence permits in the EU from 2021 to 2025, calculated over all non-EU citizens holding any residence permit. The share decreased from close to 53.1% in 2021 to 46.0% in 2025, marking a continuous downward trend. A decreasing trend was observed across all EU countries.

Figure 3

Figure 4 shows significant differences across European countries in the share of non-EU citizens holding long-term residence permits in 2025.

The highest proportions were observed in Latvia, Estonia, and Spain, where more than 70% of non-EU residents held a long-term status. The lowest shares were found in Croatia, Romania, Portugal, and Ireland, where long-term residence permits accounted for less than 10% of all permits held by non-EU citizens. Overall, the results point to substantial variation across countries, reflecting different demographic structures and national legal residency regulations.

Figure 4

Data sources

The data presented in this article are provided to Eurostat by the reporting countries on an annual basis. Note that the indicators are based on different reference periods and that the reference population varies. For example, the naturalisation rate is based on all non-nationals (including citizens of another EU country), while the data for long-term residency rights refer only to non-EU citizens.

Acquisition of citizenship data for the naturalisation rate

Data on the acquisition of citizenship, available from 1998 onwards, are collected from EU countries, EFTA and candidate countries, and cover persons who were previously citizens of another country or who were stateless. From 2008 onwards, acquisition of citizenship data analysed by sex, age group and previous citizenship are collected under Article 3 of EU regulation 862/2007. For the calculation of the naturalisation rate in reference year 2020 for EU and non-EU citizens, the broad groups of previous citizenship are based on EU-28 and non-EU28 groups of citizenship (with the EU-28 including the current 27 EU countries plus the United Kingdom), to ensure time-series completeness, even though the United Kingdom had left the EU on 31 January 2020. From 2021 onwards, the broad groups of citizenship are based on the current EU-27 and non-EU27 categories. Conditions for acquiring the citizenship of an EU country differ between countries, but they often require a period of (legally registered) residence combined with other factors such as evidence of social and economic integration, or an aptitude to speak the national language(s). The online metadata related to this data collection provides more information.

Naturalisation is one of the most common ways of acquiring citizenship. It is the formal act of granting citizenship to a non-national who applies to be a citizen. International law does not set out detailed rules on naturalisation but it recognises the competence of every State to naturalise non-nationals.

The naturalisation rate is the ratio between the number of persons who acquired the citizenship of a country during a calendar year and the stock of non-national residents in the same country at the beginning of the year. Note this rate should be analysed with some caution, as its numerator includes all modes of acquisition (and not just the naturalisation of eligible residing non-nationals), while the denominator includes all resident non-nationals (and not just resident non-nationals who are eligible for naturalisation).

Share of long-term residence permits

Long-term residence status refers to permits issued under EU directive 2003/109 concerning the status of non-EU citizens who are long-term residents. The definition concerns non-EU citizens who legally reside in an EU country for a period of at least 5 years; this is often combined with a series of other conditions that must be met.

From the 2008 reference year, data on residence permits are collected under Article 6 of EU regulation 862/2007, which refers to statistics on residence permits for non-EU citizens. Data are available for the EU and EFTA countries. These data refer exclusively to non-EU citizens (rather than citizens of other EU countries) who were issued with a residence permit. The statistics relate to the stock (total number) of non-EU citizens in possession of a long-term residence permit. More information is presented in the online metadata for this data collection.

Note for Ireland

The flag in Irish residence permit 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 Irish authorities a comprehensive modernization programme of the information systems to ensure more accurate data management is in progress.

Context

The EU is a relatively diverse area and several of its Member States have traditionally been a destination for migrants, whether from elsewhere within the EU or elsewhere in the world. The flow of migrants can lead to a range of new skills and talents being introduced into local labour markets and can increase cultural diversity, while also raising concerns about integration.

Immigrant integration policies are a national competence across the EU. However, since the signature of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007, European institutions have the mandate to 'provide incentives and support for the action of Member States with a view to promoting the integration of third-country nationals'. In June 2016, the European Commission launched an action plan for the integration of non-EU citizens. Among other actions, the plan seeks to address active participation and social inclusion in order to promote intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity and social inclusion.

In November 2020, an action plan on integration and inclusion 2021–2027 (COM(2016) 377 final) was adopted. It seeks to detail targeted and tailored support to reflect the individual characteristics that may present specific challenges to people with a migrant background, such as gender or religious background.

Recent developments for the EU’s overall immigration policy can be found in the Pact on Migration and Asylum that entered into force on 11 June 2024 and entered into application on 12 June 2026. The aim is to provide tools for faster and more integrated procedures, a better management of the Schengen area and borders, as well as flexibility and crisis resilience. The new pact on migration and asylum sets out what is intended to be a fairer, more European approach to managing migration and asylum. It aims to put in place a comprehensive and sustainable policy, providing a humane and effective long-term response to the current challenges of irregular migration, developing legal migration pathways, better integrating refugees and other newcomers, and deepening migration partnerships with countries of origin and transit for mutual benefit.

This article presents EU statistics in the area of active citizenship, covering the acquisition and exercising of equal rights/responsibilities for migrants, which are recognised as positive indications of migrant integration. The information presented is based on: a set of Council conclusions from 2010 on migrant integration; a subsequent study Indicators of immigrant integration – a pilot study from 2011; a report Using EU indicators of immigrant integration from 2013; and more recent data collection exercises, focusing on the naturalisation rate and the share of non-EU citizens having long-term residency status. The first of these indicators allows an analysis of migrant integration and/or recognition of the magnitude of the role that migrants play in host economies, while the second may be used to analyse the share of the migrant population living with a more protected residence status, with similar socioeconomic rights and responsibilities to those enjoyed by citizens of the host country.

Explore further

Database

Migrant integration (mii), see:

Active citizenship (mii_actctz)

Residents who acquired citizenship as a share of resident non-citizens by former citizenship and sex (migr_acqs)

Long-term residents among all non-EU citizens holding residence permits by citizenship on 31 December (%) (migr_resshare)

Thematic section

Publications

Podcasts and webinars

Podcast: What makes population statistics unique?

Methodology

Acquisition and loss of citizenship (ESMS metadata file – migr_acqn_esms)
Population (national level) (demo_pop) (ESMS metadata file – demo_pop_esms)
Residence permits (ESMS metadata file – migr_res_esms)

Legislation

External links