The number of residence permits issued by Malta last year was the highest within the European Union in relation to the population, fresh data shows.

According to the EU’s statistics office, 8,885 first residence permits were issued, that is about 20 permits per 1,000 inhabitants.

This is the highest rate across the European Union, with the majority of the permits being issued to citizens from Serbia, who got 11.9 per cent of the total. Libyan nationals followed with 984 permits and Filipinos – 711.

Such permits are issued to non-EU residents, allowing them to stay legally in an EU member state.

Malta also topped the EU list in 2015, with 23 permits per 1,000 inhabitants having been issue, that is almost 10,000.

In the period under review, the European Union issued 3.4 million permits, a record since data started being collected in 2008. Compared to the previous year, this was an increase of 28 per cent.

The UK, Poland and Germany issued the highest number of permits, with employment opportunities accounting for a quarter of those issued. Applicants also sought residence permits for family and education reasons.

Of all permits handed out in the EU, 14 per cent were issued to applicants requiring international protection and humanitarian status.

The data also shows that, in 2016, citizens of Ukraine had received the highest number of permits in the European Union, ahead of citizens of Syria, the United States, India and China, who got almost half of all permits issued in the EU last year.