In Numbers: Who do Europe's 3.57 million residence permits go to?

"EU countries issued some 3.5 million first-time residency permits in 2024. With EFTA countries Switzerland (47,500) and Norway (23,600) included then the number reaches 3.57 million. This represents an 8 per cent decline 315,000 fewer than the 3.8 million issued in 2023, the year with the highest number ever recorded, according to data published by the EU statistical office, Eurostat."

"The decline recorded in 2024 can partly be explained by that fact fewer first residence permits for employment (-12 per cent) were handed out plus a drop of 6.5 percent fall in the number of permits given out for family reunifications. There was also a 10 percent drop in the number of permits issued for "other" reasons (see below). However permits issued for education purposes recorded a small increase (+0.8 per cent)."

"The highest relative decreases in new permits handed out were seen among citizens coming from Belarus (-38 per cent), Turkey (-13 per cent), Afghanistan (-10 per cent) and India (-9 per cent). As for issuing countries, the largest relative decline was reported in Estonia (-42 per cent), Malta (-30 per cent) and Poland (-24 per cent), with a significant negative trend also in Slovakia and Germany (-18 per cent), Finland and Slovenia (-14 per cent)."

EU countries issued about 3.5 million first-time residency permits to non-EU nationals in 2024; including Switzerland and Norway the total reached 3.57 million, an 8% decline from 2023's 3.8 million. First residence permits cover new authorisations for employment, family, education or other reasons and include changes to previous residence status, with durations from three months to a year or more. The drop reflected a 12% fall in employment permits, a 6.5% decline in family reunification permits and a 10% decline in 'other' permits, while education permits rose slightly by 0.8%. Largest origin-country decreases affected citizens from Belarus, Turkey, Afghanistan and India. Estonia, Malta and Poland reported the steepest issuing-country declines, while Greece and Cyprus recorded increases.

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