In 2010, 810 500 persons acquired citizenship of an EU27 Member State. The highest number of citizenships were granted by the United Kingdom (195 000 persons), France (143 000), Spain (124 000) and Germany (105 000) which together accounted for 70% of all citizenships granted by the EU27 Member States. Compared with 2009, the number of acquisitions rose by 4% in the EU27 in 2010, mainly due to an increase in the number of citizenships granted by Spain.

The new citizens in the EU27 in 2010 came from Africa (29% of the total number of citizenships acquired), Asia (23%), non-EU27 Europe (19%), North and South America (19%), another EU27 Member State (9%) and Oceania (1%).

These data on the acquisition of citizenship of the EU27 Member States are taken from a report issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Highest number of citizenships granted per 1000 inhabitants in Luxembourg, Sweden, Belgium and the United Kingdom

When compared with the total population of each Member State, the highest rates of citizenship granted were recorded in Luxembourg (8.6 citizenships granted per 1 000 inhabitants), Sweden (3.5), Belgium (3.2) and the United Kingdom (3.1). Twelve Member States granted less than one citizenship per 1 000 inhabitants. On average, 1.6 citizenships were granted per 1 000 inhabitants in the EU27.

The number of citizenships granted can also be related to the number of resident foreigners i.e. non-nationals resident in the Member State. The highest rates were registered in Portugal (5.6 citizenships granted per 100 resident foreigners), Poland (5.0), Sweden (4.9), the United Kingdom (4.6) and Malta (4.5), and the lowest in the Czech Republic (0.3), Slovakia (0.4) and Lithuania (0.5). On average, 2.4 citizenships were granted per 100 resident foreigners in the EU27.

Highest numbers of citizenships in the EU27 acquired by Moroccans, Turks, Ecuadorians and Indians

In 2010, the largest groups that acquired citizenship of an EU27 Member State were citizens of Morocco (67 000 persons), Turkey (49 900), Ecuador (45 200), India (34 700) and Colombia (27 500). Among the Member States with the highest total number of citizenships acquired, the largest groups in the United Kingdom were Indians (15% of total citizenships acquired) and Pakistanis (11%), in France, they were Moroccans (19% of total citizenships acquired) and Algerians (15%), in Spain, they were Ecuadorians (35%) and Colombians (19%) and in Germany they were Turks (25%).

In some Member States, a large part of the citizenships was granted to citizens from only one country. The Member States with the highest concentrations were Hungary (65% from Romania) and Greece (65% from Albania). In Latvia and Estonia, 96% and 91% respectively of the new citizens were recognised non-citizens.