While the naturalization rates of a member state increase in the European Union, Italy is the country with the biggest decrease in the naturalization of foreigners. In 2021, 827,000 immigrants acquired the citizenship of the EU member state in which they lived, an increase of around 14% compared to the previous year (equivalent to around 98,300 people). This is what has emerged from the data published by Eurostat for 2021.
In absolute terms, the largest increases in naturalizations are in France (with an increase of approximately 43,900 naturalization grants compared to 2020), Germany (+18,800), Spain (+17,700), Sweden (+9,200) and Austria ( +7,200) was recorded. . Conversely, the largest decreases were observed in Italy (with 10,300 fewer citizenship grants compared to 2020), Portugal (-7,600), Greece (-3,200), Finland (-1,200) and Cyprus (-800). However, in the analysis of these figures provided by the European Statistical Office, it should be noted that in 2021 the EU is in the midst of an epidemic with clear repercussions on the administrative activities related to managing naturalization applications.
The vast majority (85%) of those who acquired the citizenship of an EU member state in 2021 were previously nationals or stateless from a non-EU country. Citizens of another EU country naturalized in a Member State represent 13% of the total number of citizenships acquired.
Moroccans made up the largest group of new European citizens (86,200 people, 71% acquired Spanish or French citizenship), followed by Syrians (70% acquired Swedish or Dutch citizenship) and Albanians (32,300, 70% naturalized). . Italian citizenship). Romanians (28,600, 33% acquired Italian citizenship) are also among the top 10 to acquire European citizenship, followed by Turks (25,700, 48% acquired German citizenship), Brazilians (20,400, 65% obtained Portuguese or Italian citizenship), Algerians (19,300). , 80% acquired French citizenship), Ukrainians (18,200, 37% acquired Polish and Italian citizenship), Russians (17,300, 45% acquired German and French citizenship), and Pakistanis (16,600, 62% Spanish and obtained Italian citizenship). Romanians (28,600), Poles (12,500) and Italians (10,100) remained the three largest groups of EU citizens to acquire citizenship of another EU member state.
In 2021, Sweden had the highest naturalization rate in the EU. This figure is the ratio of the number of people who acquired the citizenship of a country in a year and the number of foreigners residing in the same country at the beginning of the year. The rate registered in Sweden is equal to 10 citizenships granted for every 100 resident foreigners. It was followed by the Netherlands (5.4), Romania (4.6), Portugal (3.7), and Belgium and Spain (both 2.7). At the other end of the scale, naturalization is less than one naturalization per 100 resident foreign nationals in Lithuania (0.2), Latvia (0.3), Estonia (0.5) and the Czech Republic, Croatia and Slovakia (all 0.7) acceptance rates were recorded. .
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
