672,300 People have Acquired Citizenship in One of the 27 EU Member States

In 2018, around 672 300 persons acquired citizenship of one of the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU), down from 700 600 in 2017 and 843 900 in 2016.

Of the total number of persons obtaining the citizenship of one of the EU Member States in 2018, 13% were former citizens of another EU Member State, while the majority were non-EU citizens or stateless. The largest group acquiring citizenship of an EU Member State where they lived in 2018 was citizens of Morocco (67 200 persons, of whom 84% acquired citizenship of Spain, Italy or France), ahead of citizens of Albania (47 400, 97% acquired citizenship of Greece or Italy), Turkey (28 400, 59% acquired German citizenship), Brazil (23 100, 76% acquired citizenship of Italy or Portugal), Romania (21 500, 51% acquired citizenship of Italy or Germany), Algeria (18 400, 81% acquired French citizenship), the United Kingdom (16 200, 59% acquired citizenship of Germany or France), Syria (16 000, 66% acquired citizenship of Sweden), Russia (15 800, 31% acquired German citizenship) and Ukraine (15 400, 55% acquired citizenship of Germany, Poland or Italy). Romanians (21 500 persons), Poles (13 900) and Italians (8 100) were the three largest groups of EU citizens acquiring citizenship of another EU Member State.

These data come from an article issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.