Eurostat Statistics in Focus: Residence permits issued to non-EU citizens
In 2009, EU Member States issued about 2.3 million new residence permits to third country nationals, i.e. to non-EU citizens, a number that represents a decline of about
0.2 million compared with 2008.
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About this report:
This publication presents the latest available data on new residence permits issued in the European Union and EFTA countries. The number of people granted an authorisation to reside in the EU was 2.3 million in 2009, a number that represented a decline of about 0.2 million compared to 2008. About 660 000 new permits, that is 28.2 % of the EU total, were granted for reasons related to family, 646 000 (27.6 %) for employment and 510 000 (21.8%) for education purposes.
The EU Member State that granted the largest number of permits was the UK (671 000), followed by Italy (507 000), Spain (291 000) and France (193 000). Compared to the size of the resident population, however, the highest relative number of permits was issued by Cyprus (32.0 permits for every 1000 residents).
The report is also providing information about the main groups of citizenship granted a new residence permit. Indians, US citizens, Chinese and Moroccans were the main groups of non-EU citizens who received new permits. They accounted for almost 30% of all new permits issued in the EU in 2009.
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This report is only available in English