Malta issued the highest rates of first resident permits compared to its population in 2015 - 23.1 first residence permits issued per thousand population, according to figures released by Eurostat today.

It was followed by Cyprus (18.4), Poland (14.3) Sweden (11.3) and the United Kingdom (9.7).

In 2015, 5.1 first residence permits were issued per thousand population in the EU.

Eurostat said that, that same year, a record number since the data collection began in 2008 and up by 12.1 per cent compared with 2014.

This increase was mainly due to the higher number of first permits issued for employment reasons (+23.5 per cent, from slightly less than 0.6 million in 2014 to more than 0.7 million last year). Accounting for 28.9 per cent of all first residence permits issued in the EU in 2015, family remained the main reason of deliverance, followed by employment (27.2 per cent), other reasons (23.8 per cent)

In 2015, one out of four first residence permits was issued in the United Kingdom (633,000, or 24.3 per cent of total permits issued in the EU) and one in five in Poland (541,600, or 20.8 per cent). They were followed by France (226,600, or 8.7 per cent), Germany (194,800, or 7.5 per cent), Spain (192,900, or 7.4 per cent) and Italy (178,900, or 6.9 per cent).

In 2015, 5.1 first residence permits were issued per thousand population in the EU.