Expats and ethnic Maltese more likely to get Maltese citizenship

Malta gave citizenship to mostly Australians (43%), Britons, Canadians and Americans (20%) in 2010, an indicator that a large number of return émigrés and ethnic Maltese who seek EU citizenship are more likely to gain a much needed Maltese passport.

The highest rates of foreigners granted citizenship in EU member states in 2010 was 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.

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%).

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.

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 (34,000) 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.