Number of New EU Citizens Marks 20% Year-on-Year Increase, Latest Data Show
Nearly one million individuals acquired citizenship in one of the European Union Member States in 2022, leading to a 0.2 percent increase in the overall EU population. This marks the highest number of citizenships granted by EU states within a single year, surpassing the figures of approximately 826,800 in 2021, 730,700 in 2020, and 706,400 in 2019. It also represents a 19.7 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Of those who received citizenship from an EU country in 2022, 87 percent were former third-country citizens, with the remainder originating primarily from Romania. Romania exhibited the highest naturalization rate among EU countries.
In 2022, Romania recorded the highest naturalization rate among EU countries, with 26.8 citizenships granted per 100 non-national residents. Following Romania, Sweden stood at 10.6, the Netherlands at 4.4, and Italy at 4.2.
Italy led the list of EU countries welcoming the most new citizens in 2022, comprising 22 percent of the total, followed by Spain with 18 percent and Germany with 17 percent. These three countries experienced the most significant increases year-on-year, while France, the Netherlands, and Portugal saw the largest declines.
Moroccans remained the primary beneficiaries of EU citizenship in 2022, with 112,700 Moroccan nationals becoming new EU citizens, accounting for 11.3 percent of the total. Spain granted 49.2 percent of the total citizenships received by Moroccans, followed by Italy (27.5 percent), France (14.3 percent), and Belgium (4.3 percent).
Despite EU sanctions on Russian nationals following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russians ranked as the tenth largest group to gain citizenship in EU countries, with 20,200 Russian nationals receiving EU citizenship. Germany accounted for 23.3 percent of these citizenships, followed by France (12 percent), Finland (10.2 percent), and Spain (8.6 percent).
Approximately one-third of EU citizenships granted in 2022 were awarded to nationals of five countries: Morocco (112,700), Syria (90,400), Albania (50,300), Romania (37,700), and Turkey (29,700). The main countries where these individuals received citizenship remained consistent over the years, with Spain, Italy, and France being primary destinations for citizenship acquisition.