Cyprus recorded a citizenship acquisition rate of 1.21 per cent in 2024, remaining below the European Union average, according to Eurostat.

The figures showed that the EU average stood at 2.73 per cent, highlighting a notable gap between Cyprus and the bloc’s overall performance.

In comparison with regional peers, Greece recorded a rate of 1.92 per cent, while significantly higher levels were observed in northern Europe.

Sweden registered the highest rate in the EU, with 7.55 citizenships granted per 100 non-national residents, while Norway recorded 4.34.

At the lower end of the scale, Lithuania reported a rate of 0.09 per cent, underscoring wide disparities across Europe.

Across the European Union, nearly 1.2 million people acquired citizenship in 2024, marking an increase of 11.6 per cent or 122,700 people compared with 2023.

This also represents a 54.5 per cent increase compared with 2014, when 762,100 citizenships were granted.

The majority of new citizenships were issued by Germany, Spain and Italy, which together accounted for a significant share of the total.

Germany granted 288,700 citizenships, representing 24.5 per cent of the EU total, followed by Spain with 252,500 or 21.4 per cent, and Italy with 217,400 or 18.5 per cent.

Most recipients of EU citizenship in 2024 were nationals of non-EU countries, accounting for 88.0 per cent, while citizens from other EU countries represented 10.6 per cent.

Among nationalities, Syrians were the largest group acquiring EU citizenship, with 110,100 individuals granted citizenship.

Moroccan nationals ranked second with 97,100 citizenships, followed by Albanians with 48,000.

The naturalisation rate measures the number of people acquiring citizenship relative to the non-national population, providing a key indicator of integration trends across member states.

Sweden led this ranking in 2024 with 7.5 citizenships per 100 non-national residents, followed by Italy with 4.1 and both Spain and the Netherlands with 3.9.

By contrast, the lowest naturalisation rates were recorded in Lithuania at 0.1, and Bulgaria and Estonia at 0.3, reflecting limited citizenship uptake in those countries.