Eurostat: A total of 34,305 people acquired Greek citizenship in 2017

A total of 34,305 people acquired Greek citizenship in 2017, up 3 percent compared to 2016, according to Eurostat.

Of these, 86.8 percent were Albanians, 1.3 percent were Ukrainians and 1.1 percent were from Moldova.

In 2017, approximately 825,000 persons acquired the citizenship of a European Union member-state, down from 995,000 in 2016 and 841,000 in 2015. Of the total number of persons obtaining the citizenship of one of the EU member states in 2017, 17 percent were former citizens of another EU member-state, while the majority were non-EU citizens or stateless.

The largest group acquiring the citizenship of an EU member-state where they lived in 2017 were citizens of Morocco (67,900 persons, of whom 83 percent acquired the citizenship of Italy, Spain or France), ahead of citizens of Albania (58,900, of which 97 percent acquired the citizenship of Greece or Italy), India (31,600, of which 53 percent became UK citizens), Turkey (29,900, with over 50 percent acquiring German citizenship), Romania (25,000, 32 percent of which acquired Italian citizenship), Pakistan (23,100, of which 45 percent acquired UK citizenship), Poland (22,000, with 63 percent acquiring German or UK citizenship), and Brazil (21,600, of which 74 percent acquired the citizenship of Italy or Portugal).

Moroccans, Albanians, Indians, Turks, Romanians, Pakistanis, Poles and Brazilians together represented about a third (34 percent) of the total number of persons who acquired the citizenship of an EU member state in 2017. Romanians (25,000 persons), Poles (22,000) and Britons (15,000) were the three largest groups of EU citizens acquiring the citizenship of another EU member-state.

Half of the member-states granted citizenship to more people in 2017 than they did in 2016. The largest relative increases were recorded in Romania (from 4,527 persons in 2016 to 6,804 persons in 2017, or +50 percent).