Malta gave the highest number of residence permits per capita in 2017, almost four times as much as the EU average.

Malta gave 23 permits per thousand population, followed by Cyprus (22) and Poland (18). For the EU as a whole in 2017, six residence permits were issued per thousand population.

In 2017, about 3.1 million first residence permits were issued in the European Union to non-EU citizens. The number increased almost by 34% compared with 2014. First residence permit means a residence permit issued to a person for the first time.

Malta issued 10,974 permits, 2,033 of them to Syrians, 1,180 to Filipinos, and 784 to Indians.

Employment reasons accounted for almost one-third (32%) of all first residence permits issued in the EU in 2017, family reasons for 26%, education reasons for 17%, and other reasons, including international protection, for 24%.

In absolute numbers, Poland gave out the largest number (683,000, or 22% of total permits issued in the EU), followed by Germany (535,000, or 17%) and the United Kingdom (517,000, or 16%). The majority of permits in Poland – 59% – were issued for employment reasons. This was the case in 11 member states.

Italy, which has been at loggerheads with Malta over the number of migrants, issued in 187,000 permits, or 6% of the total.

Eurostat reported on Thursday that Ukraine accounted for the largest cohort of permits, with 662,000 beneficiaries, followed by Syria (223,000) and China including Hong Kong (193,000).

About half of all first residence permits issued in the EU in 2017 were issued to citizens of seven countries.