Rabat – According to the latest statistics issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on April 9, Moroccan nationals once again constituted the largest group of foreigners acquiring citizenship in an EU Member State in 2016, with over 101,300 citizens naturalized.
Out of this figure, 89 percent of Moroccans obtained citizenship in Spain, Italy, or France, while the rest acquired citizenship in Belgium, the Netherlands, or Germany.
Moroccans comprised the largest demographic naturalized in Spain, representing 36.5 percent of all naturalization cases. They were also the largest group to be naturalized in Italy and France, at 34.8 percent and 17.5 percent of national cases, respectively.
According to Eurostat, Moroccans have ranked first in terms of naturalization in the 27 countries of the European Union, followed by Albanians, Indians, Pakistanis, and Turks.
Albania ranked second with over 67,500 new citizens, mostly in Italy and Greece. India took third place with over 41,700, mostly in the UK.
The report said that in 2016, around 995,000 people acquired citizenship in a Member State of the European Union (EU), up from 841,000 in 2015.
“Of the total number of persons obtaining the citizenship of one of the EU Member States in 2016, 12 percent were former citizens of another EU Member State, while the majority were non-EU citizens or stateless,” the report says.
