Work permits in EU

The principle of freedom of movement of persons is one of the cardinal pillars of the European Union, established in Article 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. According to this Article, nationals of EU Member States have the right to stay in any other Member State for a period of three months without any special conditions. After the expiry of this period, proof of employment, study in an educational institution or sufficient means of self-support during the stay is required. This right allows EU citizens to move freely between EU states, with countries within the Schengen area not requiring border controls for EU citizens, with the exception of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania, which are not members of the Schengen area as of 2023. The contrast with the legal situation of non-EU migrants is significant. These persons need a visa to enter and reside in EU Member States.

Migration within the EU

The migration of persons between Member States of the European Union for the purposes of work, study and residence has been a fundamental aspect of the European integration project since its inception in the 1950s. In the early years of the project, when economic and social conditions in most member states were relatively similar, migration flows within the bloc were relatively moderate. However, with the accession of eight Central and Eastern European states to the European Union in 2004, intra-bloc migration flows increased significantly.

In response, many countries, including Germany, introduced transitional measures restricting migration from the new members of the union for up to seven years, leading to increased migration flows to countries such as the UK, Ireland and Sweden that were more open to migrants from the new member states.

With the lifting of restrictions on freedom of movement for citizens of the new Member States, peoples such as Romanians and Poles became the main groups of intra-European migrants. Germany, Italy and Spain have become the main migration destinations for these groups. Romania stands out as the country with the highest proportion of its population residing in other EU states, while Croatia and Bulgaria also show high levels of migration.

As of 2022, Germany leads the EU in the number of intra-European migrants living on its territory, with more than 4.5 million citizens from other Member States. Other countries with high levels of intra-European migration include Spain, France and Italy. Luxembourg, where almost one third of the population is made up of migrants from other Member States, has a particularly high percentage of intra-European migration, emphasising its unique position within the European Union.

Statistics on migration and the number of migrants

In 2022, approximately 5.1 million immigrants arrived in the European Union States from non-EU countries, an increase of 117 per cent (2.7 million) compared to 2021. In the same year, 1.5 million people who previously lived in a Member State moved to another Member State, an increase of 7 per cent on the previous year. Of the total 448.8 million people living in the EU on 1 January 2023, 27.3 million (6.1%) were not citizens of Member States.

Migration flows are determined by a combination of various economic, environmental, political and social factors, including both push factors in the country of origin and pull factors in the country of destination. Historically, the relative economic prosperity and political stability of the EU has played a significant role in attracting immigrants. In destination countries, international migration is often seen as a means of addressing labour shortages in the national labour market.

Migration flows to the EU

In 2022, the European Union received 5.1 million immigrants from non-EU countries. In addition, 1.5 million people previously residing in a Member State migrated to another Member State. Taking into account that 0.4 million people with an unspecified previous country of residence also migrated to a Member State, the total number of international immigration arrivals in 2022 reached 7.0 million. At the same time, around 2.7 million people left the EU Member States by migrating either to another Member State or to a country outside the EU, of which around 1.0 million people moved outside the EU.

For context, approximately 2.4 million immigrants from non-EU countries arrived in the EU in 2021, and 1.4 million people previously residing in a Member State migrated to another Member State. At the same time, about 1.0 million people emigrated from the EU to countries outside the EU. Comparing with data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, there were arrivals of around 2.7 million immigrants from non-EU countries and migration of 1.4 million people between Member States, with around 1.2 million people leaving the EU to countries outside the EU.

Germany and Malta: respectively, the largest absolute number of immigrants and the highest level of immigration in 2022.

Germany registered the highest number of immigrants among European Union member states in 2022, with 2.1 million. It was followed by Spain with 1.3 million immigrants, France and Italy, each receiving 0.4 million. Germany also reported the highest number of emigrants in 2022 with 533,500, followed by Spain (531,900), France (249,400), Poland (228,000) and Romania (202,300). During this year, all 27 EU Member States reported higher levels of immigration than emigration, in contrast to 2021, when four countries (Croatia, Greece, Latvia and Romania) recorded more emigrants than immigrants.

In addition, with the exception of Slovakia, all EU Member States recorded an increase in the number of immigrants in 2022 compared to the previous year. The largest relative increase in the number of immigrants between 2021 and 2022 was observed in the Czech Republic (401%), Latvia (205%), Estonia (153%), Germany (137%) and Portugal (132%).

According to data for 2022, Malta showed the highest immigration rate among EU Member States, with almost 66 immigrants for every 1,000 inhabitants. It is followed by Luxembourg (48 immigrants per 1,000 people), Estonia (37), Cyprus (34), Czech Republic (33), Lithuania (31) and Ireland (30). In terms of emigration, the highest rates in 2022 were in Luxembourg (26 emigrants per 1,000 inhabitants), Malta (25) and Cyprus (20).

The highest share of immigrants from Slovakia, the lowest from the Czech Republic

In 2022, Slovakia and Romania had the highest share of national immigrants (i.e. immigrants holding the citizenship of the Member State to which they move) among all EU Member States. In Slovakia, the figure was 67.4 per cent and in Romania 64.9 per cent, making these countries the only ones in the EU where the share of national immigration exceeds half of the total number of immigrants. In contrast, in the Czech Republic the share of national immigration was only 0.9 per cent.

Analysing migration by country of birth, Romania also led among Member States in terms of the share of immigrants born in the country with 43.8 per cent. Romania is followed by Bulgaria (36.7 per cent) and Greece (31.2 per cent), which shows a high rate of return of migrants to these countries. On the other hand, the Czech Republic (1.3 per cent), Luxembourg (4.0 per cent) and Austria (4.0 per cent) recorded the lowest proportions of native-born immigrants.

These data highlight the importance of the distinction between citizenship and place of birth in analysing migration trends. While citizenship may change during a person’s lifetime, place of birth remains constant and can provide a deeper understanding of migration flows.

5.1 million immigrants entered the EU in 2022 from third countries

Analyses by country of previous residence revealed that in 2022 the Czech Republic registered the highest share of immigrants coming from outside the European Union, accounting for 95.2 per cent of the total number of immigrants. It is followed by Lithuania (91.3 per cent) and Latvia (89.5 per cent). In contrast, Luxembourg recorded the highest share of immigrants from other EU Member States at 75.0 per cent and Slovakia at 65.6 per cent.

Comparing with 2021 data, Lithuania also led the way in terms of the share of immigrants from outside the EU, reaching 81.4 per cent, followed by Slovenia (78.8 per cent), Italy (78.0 per cent) and the Czech Republic (78.0 per cent). On the other hand, Luxembourg (91.0 per cent), Slovakia (67.9 per cent) and Austria (56.0 per cent) reported the highest share of immigrants from other EU Member States in 2021.

The upsurge in non-EU immigration, which peaked in 2022 with 5.1 million people, is the highest since 2013. The surge can largely be attributed to an increase in the number of refugees from Ukraine benefiting from temporary protection. Data from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania and Slovenia show that the change in migration statistics is 60 per cent driven by the Ukrainian factor. However, it is important to note that the data presented may not reflect a pan-European trend, as changes in migration flows also depend on other factors specific to the countries of origin and destination of immigrants.

Distribution of immigrants by gender in the EU Member States in 2022

In 2022, the distribution between men and women among immigrants to the Member States of the European Union was almost equal: 50.4 per cent were men against 49.6 per cent women. This differs from the 2021 data, when the share of men immigrating to the EU exceeded that of women (55.1 per cent vs. 44.9 per cent).

Croatia recorded the highest proportion of male immigrants in 2022 with 67.0 per cent, while the Czech Republic reported the highest proportion of female immigrants with 57.9 per cent. In the previous year, Croatia also had the highest proportion of male immigrants with 72.7 per cent, while the highest proportion of female immigrants was recorded in Cyprus with 53.5 per cent.

These data highlight changes in the gender composition of immigration flows in the EU and also reveal differences in gendered migration patterns between individual Member States. This may reflect different migration trajectories, employment opportunities and socio-economic conditions that are specific to each country.

Immigrants in the European Union are, on average, younger than the population of Member States as a whole. As the data show, the median age of the total EU population reached 44.5 years on 1 January 2023, compared to 30.5 years for 2022 among immigrants. This difference in age structure may be related to the high share of young adults among immigrants, which is often a consequence of labour migration and the search for educational opportunities abroad.

A more detailed analysis shows that non-EU citizens are on average younger than EU citizens who migrated from one Member State to another. The median age of immigrant EU citizens was 33.5 years, compared to 30.0 years for immigrant non-citizens. This indicates that young people from outside the EU are more likely to seek opportunities in Europe, which may be due to a desire for better quality of life and access to higher levels of education and employment.

As of 1 January 2023, there were 27.3 million non-EU nationals living in the European Union, representing 6.1% of the EU population. This number increased by 3.5 million compared to the previous year. In addition, on the same date, 13.9 million people living in the EU were nationals of other Member States, also indicating significant international and internal migration flows within Europe. These data emphasise the scale and importance of migration for demographic and social dynamics in the EU.

At the beginning of 2023, Germany, Spain, France and Italy were the leading countries in terms of the number of non-citizens living in their territories, with a total of 12.3 million in Germany, 6.1 million in Spain, 5.6 million in France and 5.1 million in Italy. Together, these four Member States provide a home for 70.6 per cent of all non-citizens living in the EU, which is significant given that these four countries account for 57.9 per cent of the EU’s total population.

Luxembourg stands out for its particularly high percentage of non-nationals – 47.4 per cent of the total population. This demonstrates the unique nature of the country’s migration and demographic policy, which attracts a large number of foreign workers and their families. Other states with high proportions of non-citizens include Malta (25.3 per cent), Cyprus (19.9 per cent), Austria (18.8 per cent) and Estonia (17.3 per cent), reflecting both their economic attractiveness and the historical and geopolitical features that influence migration processes.

On the other hand, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary recorded the lowest proportions of non-citizens, not exceeding 3 per cent of the total population. These countries have traditionally experienced smaller inflows of foreign nationals, which may be due to their less active economic migration programmes as well as fewer opportunities for foreign labour compared to larger EU economies.

At the beginning of 2023, most European Union Member States were dominated by non-EU nationals. However, in Luxembourg, Cyprus, Austria, Belgium and Slovakia, more than half of the non-citizens were nationals of other EU Member States. In Latvia in particular, the high percentage of non-citizens is due to the presence of a large number of so-called “unrecognised citizens”, most of whom are former citizens of the Soviet Union who have permanently resided in the country but have not obtained citizenship of Latvia or another country.

Luxembourg stands out among all EU Member States for having the highest proportion of foreign-born population – 50.4 per cent of permanent residents were born outside the country. This is significantly higher than in other countries such as Malta (28.3 per cent), Cyprus (22.7 per cent), Ireland (21.8 per cent) and Austria (21.6 per cent). At the opposite end of the spectrum is Poland with one of the lowest rates – only 2.5 per cent of the population was born abroad.

In terms of the population born in other EU countries, Luxembourg also leads the way with 33.2 per cent, well ahead of Cyprus (10.6 per cent), Austria (9.5 per cent) and Belgium (8.0 per cent). While Germany and Malta show relatively high shares of EU citizens born in other member states (7.4 per cent each), Poland and Lithuania have some of the lowest shares of such citizens – 0.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

At the EU level, Romanian, Italian and Polish nationals are the three largest groups of citizens residing in other Member States, reflecting significant intra-European migration flows and the extensive diasporas of these countries.