A total of 1,100 foreigners were granted Maltese citizenship in 2012, according to statistics published by Eurostat yesterday.

The majority of the new citizens originated from Australia (22.3 per cent), followed by holders of UK (14 per cent), Russian (6.4 per cent) and American (5.4 per cent) passports.

Eurostat said that in 2012, Malta granted 2.7 new citizenships for every 1,000 inhabitants.

Although this rate is higher than the EU average, which stood at 1.6 per 1,000 inhabitants, it is much lower than that in many other EU member states.

The majority of new citizens, 800 of the 1,100, originated from non-EU member states.

Until 2012, only citizens who satisfied certain criteria, including the need to reside in Malta for five years, could apply to acquire Maltese citizenship.

Meanwhile, revenue from the Individual Investor Programme (citizenship scheme) this year is expected to be below expectations, according to revised estimates published in the Budget.

The original estimate was put at €59.6 million but the latest figure for 2014, published on Monday, is actually down by €8.8 million at €50.8 million.

It was noted that “revenue from guarantee fees and the International Investor Programme [citizenship scheme] is expected to be lower than projected”. However, it was pointed out that an increase in revenue from the Investment Registration Scheme would compensate for the shortfall.

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