Data extracted on 18 July 2024.
Planned article update: 12 August 2025.
Highlights
Between 2021 and 2024, among people aged 15 - 74 in the EU, the share of foreign-born increased from 13.0% to 14.7%. The share of native-born with one foreign-born parent rose from 4.1% to 4.4%, and those with two foreign-born parents from 2.9% to 3.2%.
The article presents statistics on the migration status of people aged 15-74 years usually residing in private households in the European Union (EU). It examines both the main characteristics of people residing in private households in the EU and the household composition according to migration status, focusing on different household types such as single-adult and multi-adult households.
Migration status is defined according to individuals’ country of birth and, where relevant, their parents’ country of birth. Individuals are grouped as either native-born or foreign-born. Native-born individuals are further classified based on the birthplace of their parents, in order to reflect on the possible migrant background. As a result, the migration status categories used are: native-born with 2 native-born parents, native-born with one foreign-born parent, native-born with 2 foreign-born parents, and foreign-born persons.
Additional analysis by citizenship classifies individuals as either nationals or non-nationals of the country in which they reside. Non-nationals are further divided into 2 groups: those who hold a citizenship of another EU country and those who hold a citizenship of a non-EU country.
The types of households have been categorised based on the migration background.
For single-adult households, the household migration background reflects the migration background of that person
- household of native-born with native background: household where the adult is a native-born person with both parents native-born
- household of native-born with foreign background: household where the adult is a native-born with one or both parents born abroad
- household of foreign-born: household where the adult is a foreign-born.
For multi-adult households, the same three categories apply when all members share the same migration background. However, adults of a household may have different migration backgrounds. Therefore, one additional category is included
- mixed household: households where at least two adults have different migration backgrounds, including native-born with a native background, native-born with a foreign background, and foreign-born.
In addition, there are households where the migration background is not available. These are mostly households where the majority of adults are aged 75 years and over and for whom no information on the migration background of their parents was surveyed. In the following sections, to facilitate the reading of the figures and the comparison between the household migration background, these households where the migration background is not available, were excluded from the analysis.
This article forms part of the online publication on migrant integration statistics.
Overview
The majority of the population residing in the EU were nationals of the country in which they resided. They were followed by citizens of non-EU countries and, lastly, by EU citizens residing in another EU country. Among nationals, the largest share was native-born with native-born parents. Smaller shares of nationals were either foreign-born or native-born with one or two foreign-born parents. In contrast, the majority of both EU citizens residing in another country and non-EU citizens were foreign-born.
Main characteristics of foreign-born people and their descendants
At EU level, native-born with native-born parents represented the majority of the population, accounting for more than three quarters of all residents. Nevertheless, there was a significant variation between countries. Luxembourg and Malta had the highest proportions of people who were either foreign-born or native-born with one or two foreign-born parents. On the other hand, in countries such as Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, these 3 groups together made up only a small proportion of the total population.
When considering only nationals, differences in the age structure across groups disaggregated by migration status could be observed in Figure 3. The age group 30 - 54 represented the largest share across all groups, with the exception of native-born individuals with two foreign-born parents, for whom the most represented age group was those aged 15 - 29. Among foreign-born nationals, the 30 - 54 age group accounted for more than half of the population.
The 4 migration status groups had a similar share of people living in towns and suburbs. (Figure 4). However, when looking at the share of people residing in cities, the highest proportion was found among the native-born with two foreign-born parents, followed by the foreign-born. In contrast, the highest share of people living in rural areas was observed among native-born with two native-born parents, followed by those with one foreign-born parent.
Household composition
The majority of households in the EU were composed of multiple adults who were native born with native-born parents (Figure 5). Between 2021 and 2024, the composition of EU households by migration status remained relatively stable for single-adult households of native-born with one or two foreign-born parents. In contrast, the proportions of single-adult households composed of native-born with two native-born parents and of foreign-born saw a slight increase. Among multi-adult households, the share of households composed of native-born with native-born parents declined, while the shares of foreign-born and mixed households increased modestly.
At EU level, single-adult households were most frequently composed of native-born individuals with native-born parents, as shown in Figure 6. Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia showed particularly high shares of these households. In contrast, Luxembourg and Malta had relatively high proportions of single-adult households composed of foreign-born individuals, while Latvia and Estonia reported a notable presence of households with native-born individuals who had one or two foreign-born parents.
In the case of multi-adult households, the most common group across the EU remained those composed of native-born individuals with native-born parents. Smaller shares were observed for households composed of foreign-born individuals, for mixed households, and for native-born individuals with one or two foreign-born parents. Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia had a particularly high share of households composed of native-born individuals with native-born parents. Luxembourg recorded a relatively high proportion of households composed of foreign-born individuals, while mixed households were more frequent in Latvia and Luxembourg.
Across the EU, most households of native-born individuals, whether with native-born or foreign-born parents, were without children. In contrast, households of foreign-born individuals and mixed households were more likely to have children (Figure 7). Among single-adult households, the majority did not have children, particularly those composed of native-born individuals with native-born parents. Among multi-adult households, those of foreign-born individuals were the most likely to have children, while those composed of native-born individuals, whether with native-born or foreign-born parents, were less likely to do so. Mixed multi-adult households showed a more even distribution between those with and without children.
Source data for graphs
The data displayed in these visualisations were calculated using data from 3 Eurostat datasets:
- Population by sex, age, migration status, citizenship and educational attainment level [lfsa_pganedm];
- Population by sex, age, migration status and degree of urbanisation [lfst_r_pgaum]
- Number of households by migration status, working status and household composition [lfst_hhmgscomp]
The accompanying text is from 28 July 2025 and reflects the data situation at that moment in time.
Information on data reliability, series breaks, and differing definitions, flags can be consulted in the online datasets.
Data sources
The data presented in this article are from the EU labour force survey (EU-LFS), the largest household sample survey in the EU. The survey covers the resident population in private households. As such, people living in collective households are excluded from the target population. The concept of usual residence is used, which means the place where a person normally spends the daily period of rest, regardless of temporary absences for purposes of recreation, holidays, visits to friends and relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage. The data for the EU are aggregated results for the 27 EU countries. For more information on the data sources used, please consult the online publication EU labour force survey.
Due to the sampling nature of the survey, some data have low reliability or are not published due to very low reliability or confidentiality.
Calculation of shares in totals
All the figures in this article present shares of a total. For some of the analysed breakdowns, e.g. by migration status, citizenship, household composition there is a certain amount of non-response (also called ’not stated’ or ’unknown’). Wherever possible, the calculation of shares in this article is based on a total excluding the number of people classified in the not stated or unknown categories. As such, all exhaustive breakdowns presented in graphs should sum to 100.0% (allowing for rounding errors).
Context
The data in this article provide information not only on foreign-born persons living in the EU but also about native-born persons with at least one foreign-born parent.
Successful integration may lead to economic and social benefits for migrants and their children, and for the society where they live. More information on the policies and legislation in force in this area can be found in an introductory article: Migrant integration statistics introduced.
Explore further
Other articles
Online publications
Methodology
Database
Thematic section
Publications
Methodology
- LFS series – Detailed annual survey results (ESMS metadata file – lfsa_esms)
- EU labour force survey