According to the EU Statistics Agency’s Eurostat, employment was the primary reason for these permits, accounting for 33.8 per cent (1.3 million). This was a slight decrease of 0.4 per cent from the previous year, EU Helpers reports.
Family & Protection Reasons Lead Residence Permits
These data further revealed that family reasons were the second most common, with 26.4 per cent (986,453) of the permits issued, showing a 6.4 per cent increase.
Other reasons, such as international protection, comprised 25.6 per cent (956,646) of the permits, reflecting a 5.3 per cent rise. At the same time, education was the fastest-growing category, representing 14.3 per cent (534,558) of the permits, with a significant increase of 13.5 per cent.
Figures from Eurostat also show that for the top ten countries whose nationals were granted residence permits, the main reasons ranged from:
- Employment was the leading reason for residence permits for nationals from Ukraine (71.7 per cent), Belarus (52.3 per cent), India (45.2 per cent), and Türkiye (31.8 per cent).
- Other reasons, including international protection, were the most common for citizens of Syria (77.3 per cent) and Afghanistan (85.1 per cent).
- Family reasons were predominant for nationals from Morocco (50.3 per cent), Russia (39.4 per cent), and Brazil (35.3 per cent).
- Education was the main reason for residence permits for nationals from China (37.8 per cent).
Germany Dominated EU Residence Permits in 2022
Moreover, the Eurostat report for 2022 reveals a significant 26 per cent increase in first residence permits compared to 2021, reaching the highest level since 2009 and surpassing the pre-pandemic total of 3.0 million. During the same year, over 42 per cent of these permits were issued for employment reasons (243,617), marking an 18 per cent rise from the previous year.
Among EU countries, Germany led with the highest number of first residence permits, issuing a total of 538,690. Spain followed with over 300,000 permits, while Italy granted 337,788, and France issued 324,200 first residence permits.