Information on data
Data collections
Managed migration data are provided to Eurostat with a quarterly or annual frequency.
Residence permit statistics provide annual information on non-EU citizens who have been granted an authorisation to stay for at least 3 months in an EU country. They provide information on:
- first permits granted to non-EU citizens
- grants of permits for change of immigration status or reason to stay permits
- stock of all valid residence permits at the end of the reference year
- stock of long-term residence permits at the end or issued during the reference year
- permits issued for family reunification with a beneficiary of protection status (voluntary data collection, first reference year: 2016)
Depending on the dataset, data are available broken down by citizenship, reason for permit issuance, length of permit validity, sex, and age.
Additionally, Eurostat has developed data collections on authorisations to stay directly connected with EU directives in the field of the European Union migration policy. These are:
- EU Blue Card (first reference year: 2012)
- single permit (first reference year: 2013)
- seasonal workers (first reference year: 2017)
- intra-corporate transfers (first reference year: 2017)
- students and researchers (first reference year: 2019)
Statistics on the enforcement of immigration legislation provide quarterly or annual information on the number of third-country nationals:
- refused entry at the external borders by citizenship, reason for refusal, and type of border (land, sea, air)
- found to be illegally present in the territory of the EU country, by citizenship, reason, place of apprehension, sex, and age group
- who have been issued an order to leave an EU country, by citizenship, sex, and age
- who have been returned from an EU country following an order to leave, by citizenship, sex, age, type of return (assisted voluntary return, assisted forced return, or non-assisted voluntary return), and country of return destination
Additionally, the following quarterly information is available for third-country national unaccompanied minors:
- third-country unaccompanied minors ordered to leave, by citizenship, sex, and age
- third-country unaccompanied minors returned following an order to leave, by type of return, citizenship, country of destination, sex, and age
Data sources
These statistics are based on administrative sources and are supplied to Eurostat by statistical authorities, interior ministries, or related immigration agencies. They are line with the requirements of EU regulation 862/2007. The amendment of this regulation in June 2020 introduced additional new statistics or additional breakdowns (e.g. by unaccompanied minors) in this area as well as an increased frequency for some data.
A significant part of these statistics are closely related to the EU directives in the field of managed migration. In particular those on the access to work and on the guarantee of a common set of rights for third-country nationals residing in the European Union. For more information, please consult the legislation page.
European aggregates
Based on the national detailed figures transmitted by the national data providers, Eurostat derives geographical aggregates on the EU by applying a common calculation method. The geographical aggregation is done by arithmetical sum, when there are no missing values among the components of the respective geographical aggregate. Otherwise, the EU aggregates are not calculated.
Data releases
| Frequency | Deadline |
|---|---|
|
Annual data |
(not later than) 6 months after the end of the reference period |
| Frequency | Deadline |
|---|---|
|
Quarterly data |
(not later than) 2 months after the end of the reference period |
|
Annual data |
(not later than) 3 months after the end of the reference period |
Generally, data are published in the Eurostat database approximately within 3 working days after their reception, if they do not contain any errors. In some cases (large revisions, further validation, technical reasons, etc.) data may be disseminated later than 3 working days.
Data revision policy
The enforcement of immigration legislation and residence permits data are revised on a continuous basis according to the most recently updated data provided by the countries.