BRUSSELS, 12th September, 2026 (WAM) -- In 2025, EU countries issued 3.9 million first residence permits to non-EU citizens, a 10.1% increase (+355 350) compared with 2024.
Figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, showed noted that employment was the main reason for issuing new permits in the EU, accounting for approximately one-third of all first residence permits issued in 2025 (1.3 million or 33.6%).
Family reasons were the second most common, with 1.1 million first permits (28.1%), followed by other reasons, including international protection (0.9 million or 22.8%). The remaining first permits were issued for education-related reasons (0.6 million; 15.5%).
Compared with 2024, employment-related first permits increased by 16.1%, first permits for family reasons by 14.1% and those for education by 9.0%. Other reasons, including international protection, were the only category in which the number of first permits fell (-0.9%).
In 2025, citizens of Ukraine (335 100), India (227 600) and Morocco (202 100) received the highest number of first residence permits.
At the end of 2025, there were in total 27.8 million valid residence permits granted to non-EU citizens. Family reunification was the main reason, accounting for 32.4% of all permits. Moroccan citizens held the highest number of permits at the end of 2025 (2.2 million), followed by Turkish citizens (2.0 million) and Ukrainian citizens (1.7 million).