Italy is ranked second in the European Union in terms of the number of nationalities granted

Italy is one of the first countries in Europe to grant citizenship. In fact, to be precise, it is second only to Germany. The data on the acquisition and loss of citizenship published today on Eurostat says so. In 2019, about 706,400 people acquired the citizenship of an EU member state in which they lived, compared to 672,300 in 2018 and 700,600 in 2017.

This is generally. On the other hand, if we have to go into detail, we have noted that Germany (132,000, 19% of the European Union), Italy (127,000, 18%), France (109,800, 16%), Spain (99,000, 14%) and Sweden (64.200, 9%) represents 75% of the new nationalities granted in the European Union in 2019.

Italy is above the EU average in its naturalization rate of 2.54% compared to 2%. The naturalization rate is the ratio between the number of people who acquired citizenship of a country within a year compared to the total number of foreigners residing in the same country. In 2019, the highest naturalization rates were recorded in Sweden (7.0 nationalities were granted for every 100 foreign residents), Romania (4.7) and Portugal (4.4), followed by Finland (3.8), the countries of the Netherlands (3.2), Belgium (2.9) and Italy. (2.5%).

The main recipients were Moroccans, Albanians and British. In 2019, Moroccans were the largest group among new EU citizens (66,800 people, 84% of whom obtained Spanish, Italian or French citizenship), ahead of the Albanians (41,700, 62% got Italian citizenship), and the British (29,800, 75 %). They acquired German, Swedish or French citizenship), Syrians (29,100, 69% acquired Swedish citizenship), Turks (28,600, 57% obtained German citizenship), Romanians (26,600, 60% obtained Italian or German citizenship), Brazilians ( 23,500), 73% acquired Italian or Portuguese citizenship).

Compared to 2018, Moroccans and Albanians remained the main beneficiaries, while the British moved from seventh to third place. Romanians (26,600), Poles (12,600) and Italians (8,700) remained the three largest groups of EU citizens who acquired citizenship of another EU member state, as in 2018.