Nicosia, Cyprus. Foreign nationals accounted for 24.8 per cent of Cyprus’ population as of last January, placing the country among EU member states with the highest shares of foreigners, Eurostat data released on Monday shows.
Cyprus ranks third in EU share of foreign nationals
Cyprus ranked third in the European Union, behind Luxembourg and Malta, reflecting the scale of inward migration relative to its population size.
EU-wide figures and yearly increase
Across the EU, around 46.7 million people living within the bloc were born outside it, accounting for 10.4 per cent of the total population of 450.6 million.
This represented a year-on-year increase of nearly two million people.
Highest shares recorded in Luxembourg and Malta
Luxembourg recorded the highest proportion of foreign nationals, who accounted for 47 per cent of its population, while more than half of its residents were born abroad.
Malta followed with 29.4 per cent of its population holding foreign citizenship.
Countries with the largest numbers of foreign nationals
The largest actual numbers of foreign nationals were found in Germany, Spain, France and Italy.
Together, those four countries housed almost 70 per cent of all foreigners living in the EU, though their foreign populations made up a smaller share of total residents than in countries such as Cyprus or Malta.
Low shares in several eastern EU member states
Several eastern EU member states continued to record very low proportions of foreign nationals.
How do the figures in Cyprus compare with the share of foreign nationals in your country?
