{"version":1,"asset_type":"statistical_series","data_type":"time_series","slug":"europe-citizenship-acquisitions-by-country","url":"https://apiardata.com/statistics/europe-citizenship-acquisitions-by-country","html_url":"https://apiardata.com/statistics/europe-citizenship-acquisitions-by-country/","title":"Citizenship Acquisitions in Europe by Country (2024)","description":"Acquisitions of citizenship across 33 European countries in 2024: Germany naturalised 288.7 thousand people, the most in Europe. Eurostat data.","domain":"demo","category":"Demographics","keywords":["Demographics","Migration","Citizenship","Europe","Eurostat"],"publisher":"Eurostat","frequency":"Annual","temporal_coverage":"2007/2024","unit":"thousand people","last_updated":"2026-07-25","last_updated_text":"25 July 2026","data_as_of":"2024","variable_measured":"Acquisitions of citizenship","license":"https://apiardata.com/data-license","is_accessible_for_free":true,"sources":[{"name":"Eurostat","url":"https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/MIGR_ACQ/default/table"}],"meta":[{"label":"Frequency","value":"Annual"},{"label":"Reference year","value":"2024"},{"label":"Coverage","value":"2007–2024"},{"label":"Countries","value":"33"},{"label":"Last updated","value":"25 July 2026"}],"kpis":[{"label":"Combined naturalisations (2024)","value":"1,220.8","unit":"thousand people, 29 countries","trend":{"direction":"up","value":"+116.5 thousand vs 2023"}},{"label":"Most naturalisations","value":"288.7","unit":"Germany (thousand)"},{"label":"Fewest naturalisations","value":"0.1","unit":"Lithuania (thousand)"},{"label":"Countries ranked","value":"33","unit":"with a published figure"}],"series":[{"key":"value","label":"Combined naturalisations, 29 countries"}],"observation_count":18,"observations":[{"period":"2007","value":605.6},{"period":"2008","value":603.2},{"period":"2009","value":588.2},{"period":"2010","value":640.2},{"period":"2011","value":625.4},{"period":"2012","value":642.5},{"period":"2013","value":793.9},{"period":"2014","value":788.8},{"period":"2015","value":753.3},{"period":"2016","value":871.8},{"period":"2017","value":743.1},{"period":"2018","value":698.1},{"period":"2019","value":734.4},{"period":"2020","value":749.2},{"period":"2021","value":869.7},{"period":"2022","value":1038.3},{"period":"2023","value":1104.3},{"period":"2024","value":1220.8}],"table":{"columns":[{"key":"rank","label":"#"},{"key":"country","label":"Country"},{"key":"value","label":"thousand people"},{"key":"yoyChange","label":"Change vs 2023"}],"rows":[{"rank":"1","country":"Germany","value":"288.7","yoyChange":"+88.9"},{"rank":"2","country":"Spain","value":"252.5","yoyChange":"+12.3"},{"rank":"3","country":"Italy","value":"217.4","yoyChange":"+3.9"},{"rank":"4","country":"France","value":"103.7","yoyChange":"+6.4"},{"rank":"5","country":"Sweden","value":"63.0","yoyChange":"-4.8"},{"rank":"6","country":"Belgium","value":"60.1","yoyChange":"+4.9"},{"rank":"7","country":"Netherlands","value":"59.0","yoyChange":"+2.1"},{"rank":"8","country":"Switzerland","value":"39.9","yoyChange":"-1.3"},{"rank":"9","country":"Norway","value":"27.5","yoyChange":"-9.9"},{"rank":"10","country":"Ireland","value":"24.1","yoyChange":"+5.8"},{"rank":"11","country":"Portugal","value":"20.6","yoyChange":"+3.6"},{"rank":"12","country":"Poland","value":"16.1","yoyChange":"+4.3"},{"rank":"13","country":"Greece","value":"14.3","yoyChange":"+1.0"},{"rank":"14","country":"Austria","value":"13.0","yoyChange":"+1.1"},{"rank":"15","country":"Finland","value":"11.5","yoyChange":"-0.7"},{"rank":"16","country":"Denmark","value":"6.3","yoyChange":"+2.9"},{"rank":"17","country":"Luxembourg","value":"5.9","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"18","country":"Czechia","value":"5.8","yoyChange":"+0.4"},{"rank":"19","country":"Romania","value":"4.0","yoyChange":"-8.5"},{"rank":"20","country":"Georgia","value":"3.6","yoyChange":"n/a"},{"rank":"21","country":"Cyprus","value":"2.8","yoyChange":"-0.5"},{"rank":"22","country":"Hungary","value":"1.7","yoyChange":"-0.7"},{"rank":"23","country":"Slovenia","value":"1.7","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"24","country":"Malta","value":"1.1","yoyChange":"+0.3"},{"rank":"25","country":"Latvia","value":"1.1","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"26","country":"Albania","value":"0.9","yoyChange":"-0.5"},{"rank":"27","country":"Slovakia","value":"0.9","yoyChange":"+0.3"},{"rank":"28","country":"Croatia","value":"0.8","yoyChange":"+0.1"},{"rank":"29","country":"Estonia","value":"0.8","yoyChange":"-0.3"},{"rank":"30","country":"Iceland","value":"0.6","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"31","country":"Bulgaria","value":"0.3","yoyChange":"-0.1"},{"rank":"32","country":"Liechtenstein","value":"0.2","yoyChange":"unchanged"},{"rank":"33","country":"Lithuania","value":"0.1","yoyChange":"unchanged"}]},"qa":[{"question":"Which European country grants the most citizenships?","answer":"Germany, with 288.7 thousand acquisitions in 2024, ahead of Spain, Italy and France. Absolute counts track population size and the size of the resident foreign population, so the large western European states dominate the top regardless of how restrictive their rules are."},{"question":"What does an acquisition of citizenship count?","answer":"Every route: naturalisation after a qualifying period of residence, acquisition by marriage, entitlement by descent or birth in the territory, and restoration of a citizenship previously held. Countries with generous descent-based rules can record large numbers without any corresponding migration — a recurring feature of the Italian, Hungarian and Romanian figures."},{"question":"Why did naturalisations rise in the latest year?","answer":"The charted total moved +116.5 thousand to 1,220.8 thousand. Two mechanical effects drive most of the year-to-year movement in this series: cohorts arriving in one of the large migration waves reaching the end of their residence qualifying period, and legal changes that shorten that period or permit dual citizenship. Germany's 2024 reform, which cut the standard residence requirement and allowed dual nationality, is the clearest recent example."}]}