More than 120,000 Brits naturalised in European countries since Brexit vote
The data reveals that more than 110,000 Britons naturalised in EU countries between 2016, the year of the Brexit referendum, and 2023, according to the latest data on citizenship acquisition published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU.
Another 11,000 are added if those who were naturalised in Norway (3,864) and Switzerland (7,165) are included.
The data refers doesn't include those whop naturalised in 2024 and only those who obtained an EU citizenship by residency, rather than by ancestry or marriage. Tens of thousands of Britons have gained Irish passports via ancestry since Brexit.
'The dramatic increase in naturalisation of British citizens across the EU and associated countries is one of the unmistakable effects of Brexit. New [Eurostat] data show that 8 years after the [UK] decided to leave the [EU], we are well over the naturalisation peak of 2019,' said Maarten Vink, Chair in Citizenship Studies and Director of the Global Citizenship research area at the European University Institute in Florence.
Overall, 110,295 Britons living in EU countries took on the nationality of their country of residence in these eight years, according to the figures.
The largest number was recorded in Germany (36,888), followed by France (20,966), Sweden (11,384), the Netherlands (9,000), Belgium (7,741), and Ireland (6,376).
Only 3,010 British residents in Italy became Italian citizens during this period, and 2,363 Britons in Spain, according to Eurostat's data.
Despite hosting the largest British population in the EU, Spain allows dual citizenship only with certain countries, so Britons would have to give up their UK passport to naturalise there.
Several other European countries have restrictions on dual citizenship. Austria, one of them, recorded 395 naturalisations of British citizens between 2016 and 2023.
Smaller countries in Western Europe recorded a high number of naturalisations of British citizens in relation to the local population: 4,291 in Cyprus, 2,277 in Denmark, 1,984 in Luxembourg, 1,385 in Malta, 1,041 in Portugal and 794 in Greece.
The number was low in Central and Easter Europe, with 285 Britons naturalising in Slovakia over the same period, 267 in Czechia, 257 in Poland, and 230 in Hungary. The figure was proportionally high in Latvia, at 770.
Only 4 British citizens naturalised in Estonia over the eight years, 6 in Lithuania, 11 in Romania, 15 in Bulgaria and 20 in Slovenia, Eurostat data show.
The number of naturalisations increased sharply in 2016, when the UK voted to leave the European Union, as British citizens started to look for ways to secure their rights in their countries of residence.
People obtaining citizenship in an EU member state also automatically acquire EU citizenship, which grants among other things free movement rights across the bloc and electoral rights in local and European elections.
While only around 2,500 UK residents acquired citizenships in other EU member states in 2014 and 2015, the number rose to almost 6,700 in 2016 and reached a peak of 29,842 in 2019, before the UK and the EU reached an agreement on the terms of exit. The number has gradually declined since then and was 6,650 in 2023.
Norway recorded a sharp rise in 2021 (1,578 compared to 230 in 2020, and 1,054 in 2023).
The number of British residents who naturalised in Germany collapsed from 13,675 in 2019 to 235 in 2023, in Sweden from 4,489 to 10.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Sweden
13 hours ago
- Local Sweden
Sweden proposes extending three-month deadline for laid-off work permit holders
Sweden has put forward a proposal to extend the three-month deadline for work permit holders who lose their jobs to six months, bringing Swedish work permit rules in line with a new EU directive. Advertisement Under current rules, work permit holders who are made redundant have just three months to find a new job after the end of their notice period. If they do not find another job in time, then they must leave the country. It looks like a change to that law may be on the horizon. A new government proposal, which is the result of an EU directive passed in April 2024, has suggested extending the three-month limit to up to six months, although only in certain cases. Firstly, the six-month deadline would only apply to people who have held a work permit for at least two years. They would also need to prove that they can support themselves financially for at least three months (the part of the job-seeking period extending past the current three-month deadline). This represents a welcome change for opponents of the current three-month law. Saaya Sorrells-Weatherford, co-founder of the relocation consultancy Emigreat, told The Local back in 2024 that the current three-month rule is "unreasonably short", calling for it to be extended to six months. "It can even be proportional to how long someone has held a work permit, as that indicates the level of uprooting it would take to have to leave," she suggested. Advertisement She is not the only person to call for an extension to the three-month rule. The Local's Editor, Emma Löfgren, called on the government in September last year to extend the deadline to six months, highlighting among other things the fact that neighbouring Denmark and Norway both offer twice as much time as Sweden does for laid-off workers to find a new job. The Social Democrat's labour market spokesperson, Ardalan Shekarabi, called on the government to extend the three month deadline to six months as recently as April this year. Unfortunately, laid-off workers from Northvolt and other major Swedish employers like Volvo Cars, who recently announced plans to cut over 1,000 jobs in Sweden, are unlikely to benefit from the new law, as the suggested implementation date isn't until next spring ‒ more specifically May 21st, 2026.
Local Sweden
16 hours ago
- Local Sweden
Indian trade minister to visit Sweden
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is visiting Sweden alongside a large business delegation from India on June 11th and 12th. Advertisement Goyal is in Sweden to, among other things, participate in the two countries' Joint Commission for Economic, Industrial and Scientific Cooperation. He will meet with Swedish International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa, with the two taking part in bilateral discussions and business events with companies from Sweden and India. One of the topics up for discussion during the trip is the ongoing negotiations on a free trade agreement between India and the EU. "India is a fast growing economy, which in a few years is expected to be the world's third largest," said Dousa in a statement, describing pushing for the EU to sign a new free trade agreement with India as a top priority for the Swedish government. EDITOR'S PICK: "Together, the EU and India would form the world's largest free trade zone and a deal would give Swedish companies better access to an important market," he said. Advertisement The two ministers are also set to discuss Swedish-Indian cooperation in areas such as trade, innovation, research, health, energy, telecoms and the business climate. Sweden and India have both attempted to strengthen their ties in recent years. With more than 280 Swedish companies active in India, Swedish exports to India last year amounted to 22 billion kronor, an increase of 17 percent compared to 2023. In the same period, Sweden imports from India increased 16 percent to 13 billion kronor.
Local Sweden
6 days ago
- Local Sweden
Passenger compensation for flight delays set to decrease in Europe
Airline passengers across Europe may face decreased compensation rights for delayed and cancelled flights, after the EU Council controversially agreed to raise thresholds for airline compensation. Advertisement Airline passengers in the EU enjoy the world's most generous system of compensation if their flight is delayed or cancelled. However these rights seem set to decrease after the European Council agreed to an overhaul of compensation rules, following intense lobbying from the airline industry. The agreement to extend delay times and cut compensation levels was made at a European Council summit, despite opposition from Germany and Spain. Controversially, the Council bypassed discussions with the European Parliament and made its decision legally binding using a process that has not been deployed in more than a decade. Advertisement However the European Parliament can still make changes to the new rules - it has four months to respond with a proposal that must be backed by a majority of 361 MEPs. So what changes? The ruling doesn't scrap all the customer protections, but it changes the rules on compensation payments - changing both the payment amounts and the delay time after which compensation rules kick in. Under current EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation rules, passengers can claim between €250 and €600 in compensation if a flight is delayed by at least three hours, if the delay is the fault of the airline. Under the agreed changes, compensation will only be due after a four-hour delay for flights of less than 3,500 kilometres. For longer flights, airlines would be obliged to pay compensation if flights land at least six hours late, compared to the current three-hour standard. Under the new rules, €300 compensation will apply for delays of more than four hours – while €500 will be payable for delays of more than six hours involving flights of more than 3,500km. In exchange for the higher delay thresholds, airlines will have to streamline the complex and obfuscatory compensation process - in which many airlines make it very complicated to claim financial compensation but very easy to claim airline vouchers. There is also a strengthening of the rights for passengers with a disability. And what doesn't change? Other compensation rules remain unchanged, especially around the 'extraordinary circumstances' definition which covers whether airlines have to provide any compensation at all. Compensation for delays or cancellations is not paid if the problem is due to 'extraordinary circumstances' – the exact definition of this in the legislation is vague but it generally applies to situations like extreme weather, political instability, security risks or problems with air traffic control. Advertisement Strikes are usually not considered to be extraordinary circumstances, neither are routine mechanical problems or staff shortages. The rules cover airlines that are registered in the EU – such as the Ireland-based Ryanair – or flights taking off from an EU or Schengen zone country. Since Brexit the rules no longer apply to the UK, but the British government has mostly "copied and pasted" it into UK legislation. READ ALSO Fears EU plans to 'water down' air passengers' rights in review Also unchanged are rules on flight cancellations and airlines responsibility to provide food, accommodation and alternative travel for passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled. In truth this is not well policed - passengers are often simply told to make their own arrangements for accommodation and alternative travel and submit compensation claims to the airline later. Airlines do, however, routinely provide refreshments, usually in the form of food vouchers to passengers whose flights are delayed. Why the change? In a word - lobbying. Airlines had argued that the compensation payments were too high, especially for budget airlines where the compensation may be higher than the cost of the ticket. Airlines also said that they were unable to provide a replacement aircraft and crew within three hours in many European locations, and that this can lead to additional flights being cancelled because high compensation payments have already been incurred. READ ALSO What are your rights in Europe if your flight is delayed or cancelled? When does this happen? The change is not immediate, first the European Parliament has four months to stage any objections and if no objection is received, then an introduction date will be set. So we can say for sure that this summer holiday period will still be covered by the old rules.
