Citizenship granted to almost 1.2 million people in 2024

In 2024, nearly 1.2 million people acquired the citizenship of the EU country where they lived, an increase of 11.6% (+122 700 people) compared with 2023. The number of citizenships granted jumped by 54.5% compared with 2014, when a total of 762 100 were attributed.

The majority of these new citizenships were granted by Germany (288 700; 24.5% of the EU total), Spain (252 500; 21.4%) and Italy (217 400; 18.5%).

Most recipients (88.0%) were from non-EU countries, while citizens from other EU countries accounted for 10.6%.

This information comes from data on the acquisition of citizenship published by Eurostat today. This article presents just a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.

Syrians, Moroccans and Albanians top 3 recipients

In 2024, as in the year before, Syrian nationals were the largest group of new EU citizens, with 110 100 new citizenships granted. Moroccan nationals were the second largest group, with 97 100 granted citizenships, followed by Albanians (48 000).

Source dataset: migr_acq

Sweden recorded the highest naturalisation rate in 2024

The naturalisation rate indicates the number of persons acquiring citizenship in a country during a year, relative to the total number of non-national residents at the beginning of the year.

In 2024, Sweden recorded the highest naturalisation rate among EU countries, with 7.5 citizenships granted per 100 non-national residents, followed by Italy (4.1) and Spain and the Netherlands (each 3.9). At the other end of the scale, the lowest naturalisation rates per 100 non-national residents were recorded in Lithuania (0.1), Bulgaria and Estonia (each 0.3).

Source dataset: migr_acqs