09/12/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/12/2024 03:05
More than 3.7 million first residence permits were issued in the EU to non-EU citizens in 2023, a 4.7% increase compared with 2022, and the highest number recorded to date.
Employment remained the main reason for issuing residence permits in 2023, accounting for 33.8% (1.3 million) of all first residence permits issued, indicating a modest decrease compared with 2022 (-0.4%; -4 662).
Family reasons accounted for 26.4% (986 453) of all permits, reflecting a 6.4% increase (+58 943) compared with 2022. Other reasons, including international protection, made up nearly the same share (25.6%; 956 646), with a 5.3% rise (+48 406). Education reasons represented 14.3% (534 558) of all first residence permits, representing the largest overall increase of 13.5% (+63 674).
This information comes from data on first residence permits published by Eurostat. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on first residence permits issued during the year.
Source dataset: migr_resfirst
In 2023, the highest number of first residence permits was issued to citizens of Ukraine (307 313), followed by Belarus (281 279) and India (207 966).
Source dataset: migr_resfirst
When looking at the top 10 countries of citizenship of those granted residence permits, employment was the most frequent reason for nationals of Ukraine (71.7%), Belarus (52.3%), India (45.2%) and Türkiye (31.8%). Other reasons, including international protection, dominated for citizens of Syria (77.3%) and Afghanistan (85.1%). Family reasons accounted for the largest share of permits for nationals of Morocco (50.3%), Russia (39.4%) and Brazil (35.3%), while nationals of China were mostly granted permits for education reasons (37.8%).