Migration and migrant population statistics

Data extracted in March 2018.

Planned article update: March 2019.

Highlights

2 million non-EU citizens immigrated to the EU in 2016.

EU Member States granted citizenship to almost 1 million persons in 2016.

Immigrants, 2016

This article presents European Union (EU) statistics on international migration (flows), number of national and non-national citizens in population ("stocks") and data relating to the acquisition of citizenship. Migration is influenced by a combination of economic, environmental, political and social factors: either in a migrant’s country of origin (push factors) or in the country of destination (pull factors). Historically, the relative economic prosperity and political stability of the EU are thought to have exerted a considerable pull effect on immigrants.

In destination countries, international migration may be used as a tool to solve specific labour market shortages. However, migration alone will almost certainly not reverse the ongoing trend of population ageing experienced in many parts of the EU.

Full article

Migration flows: 2 million non-EU immigrants

A total of 4.3 million people immigrated to one of the EU-28 Member States during 2016, while at least 3.0 million emigrants were reported to have left an EU Member State. These total figures do not however represent the migration flows to/from the EU as a whole, since they also include flows between different EU Member States.

Among these 4.3 million immigrants during 2016, there were an estimated 2.0 million citizens of non-EU countries, 1.3 million people with citizenship of a different EU Member State from the one to which they immigrated, around 929 thousand people who migrated to an EU Member State of which they had the citizenship (for example, returning nationals or nationals born abroad), and some 16 thousand stateless people.

Table 1: Immigration by citizenship, 2016
Source: Eurostat (migr_imm1ctz)

Germany: the largest number of immigrants and emigrants

Germany reported the largest total number of immigrants (1 029.9 thousand) in 2016, followed by the United Kingdom (589.0 thousand), Spain (414.7 thousand), France (378.1 thousand) and Italy (300.8 thousand). Germany also reported the highest number of emigrants in 2016 (533.8 thousand), followed by the United Kingdom (340.4 thousand), Spain (327.3 thousand), France (309.8 thousand), Poland (236.4 thousand) and Romania (207.6 thousand). A total of 21 of the EU Member States reported more immigration than emigration in 2016, but in Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Romania the number of emigrants outnumbered the number of immigrants.

Relative to the size of the resident population, Luxembourg recorded the highest rates of immigration in 2016 (39 immigrants per 1 000 persons), followed by Malta (38 immigrants per 1 000 persons)— see Figure 1.For emigration, the highest rates in 2016 were reported for Luxembourg (23 emigrants per 1 000 persons), Malta, Lithuania and Cyprus (all with 18 emigrants per 1 000 persons) and Ireland (13 emigrants per 1 000 persons).

Figure 1: Immigrants, 2016
(per 1 000 inhabitants)
Source: Eurostat (migr_imm1ctz) and (migr_pop1ctz)

Highest share of national immigrants for Romania, lowest for Luxembourg

In 2016, the relative share of national immigrants, in other words immigrants with the citizenship of the EU Member State to which they were migrating, within the total number of immigrants was highest in Romania (87 % of all immigrants), Lithuania (71 %), Latvia (59 %), Hungary (56 %), Croatia (55 %) and Slovakia (53 %). These were the only EU Member States where national immigration accounted for more than half of the total number of immigrants — see Figure 2. By contrast, in Luxembourg, national immigration represented no more than 6 % of their total immigration in 2016.

Figure 2: Distribution of immigrants by citizenship, 2016
(% of all immigrants)
Source: Eurostat (migr_imm2ctz)

Information on citizenship has often been used to study immigrants with a foreign background. However, since citizenship can change over the life-time of a person, it is also useful to analyse information by country of birth. The relative share of native-born immigrants within the total number of immigrants was highest in Romania (66 % of all immigrants), followed by Poland (58 %) and Lithuania (57 %). By contrast, Luxembourg and Austria reported relatively low shares of native-born immigrants, less than 6 % of all immigration in 2016.

Table 2: Immigration by country of birth, 2016
Source: Eurostat (migr_imm3ctb)

Half of immigrants were aged below 28

Regarding the gender distribution of immigrants to the EU Member States in 2016, there were slightly more men than women (55 % compared with 45 %). The Member State reporting the highest share of male immigrants was Slovenia (63 %); by contrast, the highest share of female immigrants was reported in France (51 %).

Figure 3: Immigrants by sex, 2016
(% of all immigrants)
Source: Eurostat (migr_imm2ctz)

Immigrants into EU Member States in 2016 were, on average, much younger than the total population already resident in their country of destination. On 1 January 2017, the median age of the total population of the EU-28 stood at 42.9 years, while it was 27.9 years for immigrants to EU-28 in 2016.

Figure 4: Age structure of immigrants by citizenship, EU, 2016
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_imm2ctz)

Previous residence: 2.4 million immigrants entered the EU in 2016

In 2016, there were an estimated 2.4 million immigrants to the EU-28 from non-EUcountries. In addition, 1.8 million people previously residing in one EU Member State migrated to another Member State.

An analysis by previous residence reveals that Luxembourg reported the largest share of immigrants coming from another EU Member State (93 % of its total number of immigrants in 2016), followed by Slovakia (80 %) and Romania (74 %); relatively low shares were reported by Sweden (24 % of all immigrants), as well as Italy (25 %) — see Table 3.

Table 3: Immigration by previous country of residence, 2016
Source: Eurostat (migr_imm5prv)

Migrant population: almost 22 million non-EU citizens living in the EU

The number of people residing in an EU Member State with citizenship of a non-member country on 1 January 2017 was 21.6 million, representing 4.2 % of the EU-28 population. In addition, there were 16.9 million persons living in one of the EU Member States on 1 January 2017 with the citizenship of another EU Member State.

Regarding the country of birth, there were 36.9 million people born outside of the EU-28 living in an EU Member State on 1 January 2017, while there were 20.4 million persons who had been born in a different EU Member State from the one where they were resident. Only in Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Cyprus was the number of persons born in other EU Member States higher than the number born outside of the EU-28.

Table 4: Foreign-born population by country of birth, 1 January 2017
Source: Eurostat (migr_pop3ctb)

Highest share of foreign population in Luxembourg, lowest in Poland

In absolute terms, the largest numbers of non-nationals living in the EU Member States on 1 January 2017 were found in Germany (9.2 million persons), the United Kingdom (6.1 million), Italy (5.0 million), France (4.6 million) and Spain (4.4 million). Non-nationals in these five Member States collectively represented 76 % of the total number of non-nationals living in all of the EU Member States, while the same five Member States had a 63 % share of the EU-28’s population.

In relative terms, the EU Member State with the highest share of non-nationals was Luxembourg, as non-nationals accounted for 48 % of its total population. A high proportion of foreign citizens (10 % or more of the resident population) was also observed in Cyprus, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Belgium, Ireland, Malta and Germany. In contrast, non-nationals represented less than 1 % of the population in Poland and Romania (0.6 % in both countries) and in Lithuania (0.7 %).

Figure 5: Share of non-nationals in the resident population, 1 January 2017
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_pop1ctz)

Foreign population made of non-EU citizens in most Member States

Belgium, Ireland, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the United Kingdom where in 2016 the only EU Member States where non-nationals were mainly citizens of another Member State. This means that in most EU Member States, the majority of non-nationals were citizens of non-EU countries (see Table 5). In the case of Latvia and Estonia, the proportion of citizens from non-member countries is particularly large due to the high number of recognised non-citizens (mainly former Soviet Union citizens, who are permanently resident in these countries but have not acquired any other citizenship).

Table 5: Non-national population by group of citizenship, 1 January 2017
Source: Eurostat (migr_pop1ctz)

Table 6 presents a summary of the five main groups of foreign citizens and foreign-born populations for the EU Member States and EFTA countries (subject to data availability).

Table 6: Main countries of citizenship and birth of the foreign/foreign-born population, 1 January 2017
(in absolute numbers and as a percentage of the total foreign/foreign-born population)
Source: Eurostat (migr_pop1ctz) and (migr_pop3ctb)

Romanian, Polish, Italian, Portuguese and German citizens were the five biggest groups of EU-citizens living in other EU Member States in 2017 (See Figure 6).

Figure 6: Number of EU citizens that are usual residents in the rest of the EU as of 1 January 2017
(million)
Source: Eurostat (migr_pop1ctz)

Foreign citizens are younger than nationals

An analysis of the age structure of the population shows that, for the EU-28 as a whole, the foreign population was younger than the national population. The distribution by age of foreigners shows, compared with nationals, a greater proportion of relatively young working age adults. On 1 January 2017, the median age of the national population in the EU-28 was 44 years, while the median age of non-nationals living in the EU was 36 years.

Figure 7: Age structure of the national and non-national populations, EU-28, 1 January 2017
(%)
Source: Eurostat (migr_pop2ctz)

Acquisitions of citizenship: EU Member States granted citizenship to almost 1 million persons in 2016

The number of people acquiring the citizenship of an EU Member State in 2016 was 994.8 thousand, corresponding to an 18 % increase with respect to 2015.

Figure 8: Number of persons having acquired the citizenship of an EU Member State, EU-28, 2009–2016
(thousands)
Source: Eurostat (migr_acq)

Italy had the highest number of persons acquiring citizenship in 2016, at 201.6 thousand (or 20 % of the EU-28 total). The next highest levels of acquisition of citizenship were in Spain (150.9 thousand), the United Kingdom (149.4 thousand), France (119.2 thousand) and Germany (112.8 thousand).

Table 7: Persons having acquired the citizenship of the reporting country, 2016
Source: Eurostat (migr_acq)

In absolute terms, the highest increases compared with 2015 were observed in Spain, as 36 600 more residents were granted Spanish citizenship, followed by the United Kingdom (31.4 thousand), Italy (23 600), Greece (19 300) and Sweden (12 300). By contrast, the highest decreases in absolute terms were observed in Ireland (3 500 fewer persons were granted Irish citizenship compared with 2015), followed by Poland (300).

Highest naturalisation rate in Croatia, Sweden and Portugal

One commonly used indicator is the ‘naturalisation rate’, defined here as the ratio between the total number of citizenships granted and the stock of non-national residents at the beginning of the same year. The EU Member State with the highest naturalisation rate in 2016 was Croatia (9.7 acquisitions per 100 non-national residents), followed by Sweden and Portugal (with 7.9 and 6.5 acquisitions per 100 non-national residents respectively).

Figure 9: Naturalisation rate, 2016
(per 100 non-national residents)
Source: Eurostat (migr_acq) and (migr_pop1ctz)

Main recipients: Morroccans, Albanians and Indians

Viewed in terms of original citizenship, as in previous years, the largest groups were Moroccans (101 300, corresponding to 10.2 % of all citizenships granted), followed by Albanians (67 500, or 6.8 %), Indians (41 700, or 4.2 %), Pakistanis (32 900, or 3.3 %) and Turks (32 800, or 3.3 %). Compared with 2015, the number of Moroccan citizens acquiring citizenship of an EU Member State increased by 17.7 %. The majority of Moroccans acquired citizenship of Spain (37 %), Italy (35 %) or France (18 %), while the majority of Albanians received Italian citizenship (55 %) or Greek citizenship(42 %). A large majority of Indians (59 %) received British citizenship, around half of the Pakistanis received British citizenship (51 %) and half of the Turks received German citizenship (50 %).

15% were former citizens of another EU Member State

Some 863.3 thousand citizens of non-member countries residing in an EU Member State acquired EU citizenship in 2016, corresponding to a 19 % increase with respect to 2015. As such, citizens of non-member countries accounted for 87 % of all persons who acquired citizenship of an EU Member State in 2016. These new EU-28 citizens were mainly from Africa (30 % of the total number of citizenships acquired), Asia (21 %), Europe outside of the EU-28 (20 %) and North and South America (15 %),

Citizens of EU Member States who acquired citizenship of another EU Member State amounted to 120.2 thousand persons, thus accounting for 12.1 % of the total. In absolute terms, the main groups of EU-28 citizens acquiring citizenship of another EU Member State were Romanians becoming citizens of Italy (13.0 thousand persons) or Germany (3.8 thousand persons), Poles becoming citizens of Germany (6.7 thousand persons) or the United Kingdom (4.4 thousand persons), Italians becoming citizens of Germany (3.6 thousand persons) or the United Kingdom (1.3 thousand persons), Bulgarians becoming citizens of Germany (1.7 thousand persons) or the United Kingdom (1.2 thousand persons), British becoming citizens of Germany (2.7 thousand persons) or Sweden (1.0 thousand persons) and Portuguese becoming citizens of France (2.6 thousands persons) or Luxembourg (1.1 thousand persons).

In Luxembourg and Hungary the majority of new citizenships granted were to citizens of another EU Member State. In the case of Luxembourg, Portuguese citizens accounted for the largest share, followed by French, Italian, German and Belgian citizens, while in the case of Hungary EU nationals acquiring citizenship were almost exclusively Romanians.

Source data for tables and graphs

Migration and migrant population statistics: tables and figures

Data sources

Emigration is particularly difficult to measure; it is harder to count people leaving a country than those arriving. An analysis comparing 2016 immigration and emigration data from the EU Member States (mirror statistics) confirmed that this was true in many countries — as a result, this article focuses on immigration data.

Eurostat produces statistics on a range of issues related to international migration flows, non-national population stocks and the acquisition of citizenship. Data are collected on an annual basis and are supplied to Eurostat by the national statistical authorities of the EU Member States.

Basis for data collection

Since 2008 the collection of migration, citizenship and asylum data has been based on Regulation 862/2007; the analysis and composition of the EU, EFTA and candidate countries groups as of 1 January of the reference year are given in the implementing Regulation 351/2010. This defines a core set of statistics on international migration flows, population stocks of foreigners, the acquisition of citizenship, residence permits, asylum and measures against illegal entry and stay. Although EU Member States may continue to use any appropriate data according to national availability and practice, the statistics collected under the Regulation must be based on common definitions and concepts. Most EU Member States base their statistics on administrative data sources such as population registers, registers of foreigners, registers of residence or work permits, health insurance registers and tax registers. Some countries use mirror statistics, sample surveys or estimation methods to produce migration statistics. The implementation of the Regulation is expected to result in increased availability and comparability of migration and citizenship statistics.

The data on the acquisition of citizenship are normally produced from administrative systems. The implementation of the Regulation is expected to result in increased availability and comparability of migration and citizenship statistics.

As stated in Article 2.1(a), (b), (c) of Regulation 862/2007, immigrants who have been residing (or who are expected to reside) in the territory of an EU Member State for a period of at least 12 months are enumerated, as are emigrants living abroad for more than 12 months. Therefore, data collected by Eurostat concern migration for a period of 12 months or longer: migrants therefore include people who have migrated for a period of one year or more as well as persons who have migrated on a permanent basis.

Focusing on the definitions of age for migration flows, please note that 2016 data concern the respondent’s age reached or age at the end of the reference year for all EU Member States with the exception of Ireland, Greece, Austria, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom (where data concern the respondent's age completed or on their last birthday).

Member States and EFTA countries by inclusion/exclusion of asylum seekers and refugees in the data on population reported to Eurostat in the framework of the Unified Demographic data collection Reference Year 2016

Population as of 01.01.2017	Included	Excluded
Asylum seekers usual residents for at least 12 months	Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland	Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein
Refugees usual residents for at least 12 months	Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom,Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland

Note: Norway (Asylum seekers and refugees without residence permit are not included)

Member States and EFTA countries by inclusion/exclusion of asylum seekers and refugees in the data on migration reported to Eurostat in the framework of the Unified Demographic data collection Reference Year 2016

Migration for 2016	Included	Excluded
Asylum seekers usual residents for at least 12 months	Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway	Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein
Refugees usual residents for at least 12 months	Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland	Cyprus

Note: Norway (Asylum seekers and refugees without residence permit are not included); Ireland (Refugees who do not live in a private household are not included)

'Refugee' does not only refer to persons granted refugee status (as defined in Art.2(e) of Directive 2011/95/EC within the meaning of Art.1 of the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951, as amended by the New York Protocol of 31 January 1967) but also to persons granted subsidiary protection (as defined in Art.2(g) of Directive 2011/95/EC) and persons covered by a decision granting authorisation to stay for humanitarian reasons under national law concerning international protection.

Asylum seeker: First-time asylum applications are country-specific and imply no time limit. Therefore, an asylum seeker can apply for first time in a given country and afterwards again as first-time applicant in any other country. If an asylum seeker lodges again an application in the same country after any period of time, (s)he is not considered again a first-time applicant.

Data on acquisitions of citizenship are collected by Eurostat under the provisions of Article 3.1.(d) of Regulation 862/2007, which states that: ‘Member States shall supply to the Commission (Eurostat) statistics on the numbers of (…) persons having their usual residence in the territory of the Member State and having acquired during the reference year the citizenship of the Member State (…) disaggregated by (…) the former citizenship of the persons concerned and by whether the person was formerly stateless’.

Focusing on the definitions of age for acquisitions of citizenship, please note that 2015 data concern the respondent’s age reached or at the end of the reference year for all EU Member States with the exception of Germany, Ireland, Austria, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and the United Kingdom (where data concern the respondent's age completed or on their last birthday).

The ‘naturalisation rate’ should be used with caution because the numerator includes all modes of acquisitions and not just naturalisations of eligible residing foreigners and the denominator includes all foreigners, rather than foreigners who are eligible for naturalisation.

Context

Citizens of EU Member States have freedom to travel and freedom of movement within the EU’s internal borders. Migration policies within the EU in relation to citizens of non-member countries are increasingly concerned with attracting a particular migrant profile, often in an attempt to alleviate specific skills shortages. Selection can be carried out on the basis of language proficiency, work experience, education and age. Alternatively, employers can make the selection so that migrants already have a job upon their arrival.

Besides policies to encourage labour recruitment, immigration policy is often focused on two areas: preventing unauthorised migration and the illegal employment of migrants who are not permitted to work, and promoting the integration of immigrants into society. Significant resources have been mobilised to fight people smuggling and trafficking networks in the EU.

Some of the most important legal texts adopted in the area of immigration include:

Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification;
Directive 2003/109/EC on a long-term resident status for non-member nationals;
Directive 2004/114/EC on the admission of students;
Directive 2005/71/EC for the facilitation of the admission of researchers into the EU;
Directive 2008/115/EC for returning illegally staying third-country nationals;
Directive 2009/50/EC concerning the admission of highly skilled migrants.
Directive 2009/52/EC concerning employer sanctions;
Directive 2011/95/EC on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status of refugees eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content for the protection granted;
Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection;
Directive 2013/33/EU on standards for the reception of applicants for international protection;
Directive 2014/36/EU on seasonal workers;
Directive 2014/66/EU on intra-corporate transferees;
Directive 2014/67/EU on posted workers;
Directive 2016/801/EU on students and researchers;

Within the European Commission, the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs is responsible for the European migration policy. In 2005, the European Commission relaunched the debate on the need for a common set of rules for the admission of economic migrants with a Green paper on an EU approach to managing economic migration (COM(2004) 811 final) which led to the adoption of a policy plan on legal migration (COM(2005) 669 final) at the end of 2005. In July 2006, the European Commission adopted a Communication on policy priorities in the fight against illegal immigration of third-country nationals (COM(2006) 402 final), which aims to strike a balance between security and an individuals’ basic rights during all stages of the illegal immigration process. In September 2007, the European Commission presented its third annual report on migration and integration (COM(2007) 512 final). A European Commission Communication adopted in October 2008 emphasised the importance of strengthening the global approach to migration: increasing coordination, coherence and synergies (COM(2008) 611 final) as an aspect of external and development policy. The Stockholm programme, adopted by EU heads of state and government in December 2009, set a framework and series of principles for the ongoing development of European policies on justice and home affairs for the period 2010 to 2014; migration-related issues are a central part of this programme. In order to bring about the changes agreed upon, the European Commission enacted an action plan implementing the Stockholm programme – delivering an area of freedom, security and justice for Europe’s citizens (COM(2010) 171 final) in 2010.

In May 2013, the European Commission published the ‘EU Citizenship Report 2013’ (COM(2013) 269 final). The report noted that EU citizenship brings new rights and opportunities. Moving and living freely within the EU is the right most closely associated with EU citizenship. Given modern technology and the fact that it is now easier to travel, freedom of movement allows Europeans to expand their horizons beyond national borders, to leave their country for shorter or longer periods, to come and go between EU countries to work, study and train, to travel for business or for leisure, or to shop across borders. Free movement potentially increases social and cultural interactions within the EU and closer bonds between EU citizens. In addition, it may generate mutual economic benefits for businesses and consumers, including those who remain at home, as internal obstacles are steadily removed.

The European Commission presented a European Agenda on Migration (COM(2015) 240 final) outlining immediate measures to be taken in order to respond to the crisis situation in the Mediterranean as well as steps to be taken in the coming years to better manage migration in all its aspects on 13 May 2015.

The European migration network annual report on immigration and asylum (2016) was published in April 2017. It provides an overview of the main legal and policy developments taking place across the EU as a whole and within participating countries. It is a comprehensive document and covers all aspects of migration and asylum policy by the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs and EU agencies.

Legislative documents - European Agenda on Migration

Press material - European Agenda on Migration

Direct access to