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Cyprus third in migrant arrivals in relation to population

29/03/2023 16:32

About 27 migrants per 1000 people arrived to Cyprus from countries outside the European Union in 2021, according to data released by Eurostat, the statistical service of the EU. Also, 22.7% of citizens in Cyprus were foreign-born (from other EU members or non-EU countries), which is the third largest percentage among the EU’s member states. Also, Cyprus is the country with the second largest share of citizens born in another member states (10.6%), but is in fifth place regarding the share of citizens born in non-EU countries (12.2%).

Compared to 2021, the number of non-EU-born citizens in Cyprus increased while the number of citizens born in other EU countries decreased.

In 2021, there were an estimated 2.3 million immigrants coming to the EU from non-EU countries and about 1.1 million people from the EU who emigrated to a country outside the EU.

Data also show an important increase compared with 2020 when an estimated 1.9 million immigrants to the EU from non-EU countries and about 956 thousand people emigrated from the EU to a country outside the EU.

In addition, 1.4 million people previously residing in one EU country migrated to another EU member in 2021 (1.2 million in 2020).

In relative terms in 2021, there was an estimated 5 immigrants per 1000 people in the EU. Relative to the size of the resident population, Luxembourg recorded the highest rate of immigration in 2021 (almost 40 immigrants per 1000 people), followed by Malta (35) and Cyprus (27).

In contrast, Slovakia registered the lowest rate of immigration, with 1 immigrant per 1000 people. This country was followed by Portugal and France, each with 5 immigrants per 1000 people.

In terms of population, on 1 January 2022, almost half (49.4%) of the population in Luxembourg was foreign-born. This EU country was followed by Malta (23.6%) and Cyprus (22.7%) as the EU members with the highest shares of foreign-born population.

In contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Romania (1.7%), Poland (2.5%) and Bulgaria (3.2%).

In absolute terms, the biggest populations of foreign-born citizens (from other EU members and non-EU countries) were registered in Germany (15.3 million people), France (8.7 million) and Spain (7.4 million).

In relative terms, Luxembourg had by far the biggest community of citizens born in another EU country, 33.8%, followed by Cyprus with 10.6% and Austria with 9.3%. Belgium and Malta also registered high shares of citizens born in other EU countries, with 7.9% each.

Poland and Lithuania, on the other hand, had the smallest shares of citizens born in other EU countries, with only 0.6% each. Bulgaria and Romania also recorded low values, with 1.0% each.

When it comes to citizens born in non-EU countries, the highest shares were recorded in Malta (15.7%), closely followed by Luxembourg (15.6%). These two EU members were followed by Sweden (14.9%), Estonia (13.1%) and Cyprus (12.2%).

Registering the lowest shares of non-EU-born citizens were Romania (0.7%), Slovakia (1.0%), Poland (1.9%), Bulgaria (2.2%) and Hungary (2.9%).

Compared with 2021 (in absolute terms), 13 EU members saw the number of citizens born in non-EU countries and in EU countries both increase in 2022 (Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden).

Five members saw the opposite trend with the number of both those groups of citizens decreasing (Czechia, Greece, Italy, Latvia and Romania).

Some other interesting trends were observed: in Germany, France, Spain, Cyprus, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia, the number of non-EU-born citizens increased while the number of citizens born in other EU countries decreased.

The opposite was registered in Croatia (to a very small degree) and Portugal, where the number of citizens born in other EU countries increased, but the non-EU foreign-born population decreased.