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Valid residence permits in Europe

Europe · stock of residence permits

Valid permits, 31 Dec 2025
28,776,117
Change on the previous year
+4.6%
Share held for work
21.7%
Data as at 24 Oct 2026
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Valid permits by year

Permits valid on 31 December, all reporting member states.

Valid residence permits

14.4M28.8M2008201020122014201620182020202220242025
14.4M28.8M2008201120142017202020232025
Data table
200815,976,477
200916,980,856
201016,539,402
201116,737,813
201217,572,482
201317,698,356
201417,945,903
201518,466,533
201618,867,339
201719,975,949
201820,746,098
201921,463,691
202021,272,555
202123,795,246
202225,156,650
202326,169,762
202427,514,634
202528,776,117
By reason, 2025
  1. Family9,228,228
  2. Other reasons7,710,887
  3. Work6,247,052
  4. Refugee status2,551,214
  5. Subsidiary protection1,709,465
  6. Education1,329,271
Source: Eurostat (migr_resfirst, migr_resbc11, migr_acq, educ_uoe_mobs02, migr_eirfs, migr_pop1ctz), CC BY 4.0Data as at 2025

Member states

Valid permits by reason, 31 December 2025.

Member stateAllWorkFamilyEducationRefugee statusSubsidiary protectionOther reasons
Germany5,935,591615,9572,192,525269,0571,398,2491,263,385196,418
France4,419,080482,5561,456,548329,416487,796149,8381,512,926
Spain4,296,727586,5631,607,399136,17589,32101,877,269
Italy4,257,6731,812,3831,712,90694,18178,41180,260479,532
Portugal1,122,061483,213120,44069,5752,7001,003445,130
Poland1,055,532601,428112,23718,5193,20921,499298,640
Netherlands831,413155,532233,72140,00931,280101,647269,224
Switzerland813,79233,524170,97029,607121,07112,110446,510
Greece713,407164,066186,9312,32792,8823,556263,645
Austria596,23917,807112,24622,96400443,222
Belgium535,53850,512300,90626,25777,41610,01670,431
Czechia486,518110,918172,67625,0751,4404,082172,327
Sweden429,68568,373219,62621,13162,71124,96832,876
Denmark396,09138,297117,01421,63623,7606,511188,873
Ireland331,62396,02356,97262,99710,8631,231103,537
Finland274,96675,050105,90128,84223,9382,88238,353
Latvia244,32012,11719,5757,322641206204,459
Slovenia228,39054,87619,5136,429995251146,326
Romania223,782146,56833,36517,0482,2482,34622,207
Hungary211,28892,66022,65136,9220059,055
Cyprus200,65279,92734,60411,6813,98713,27357,180
Estonia187,3507,91713,3191,2013616,626157,926
Norway170,64018,14346,9284,69028,72284971,308
Slovakia161,00795,44436,29418,16739614510,561
Lithuania158,277107,73315,32211,1041,3815522,682
Croatia135,075106,74912,7066785563514,351
Bulgaria135,04129,35938,3076,4233060,949
Malta132,06786,13414,5807,1610024,192
Luxembourg68,86514,85035,4791,3676,3081,1519,710
Iceland16,8921,4634,9991,2485401,5217,121
Liechtenstein6,5359101,5686229193,947
Source: Eurostat (migr_resfirst, migr_resbc11, migr_acq, educ_uoe_mobs02, migr_eirfs, migr_pop1ctz), CC BY 4.0Data as at 2025

Citizenships

31 December 2025.

All valid permits
  1. Morocco2,239,936
  2. Türkiye2,093,454
  3. Ukraine1,667,706
  4. China1,246,885
  5. Syria1,096,808
  6. India1,065,876
  7. United Kingdom972,474
  8. Russia897,091
  9. Albania879,802
  10. Algeria809,319
  11. Brazil772,910
  12. Afghanistan644,671
  13. Pakistan593,850
  14. Serbia580,817
  15. Kosovo559,265
  16. Tunisia543,441
  17. Bosnia and Herzegovina530,906
  18. Bangladesh462,552
  19. Colombia454,810
  20. Philippines444,875
Valid permits for work
  1. Ukraine730,285
  2. India483,877
  3. Morocco423,561
  4. China338,536
  5. Albania257,617
  6. Brazil252,485
  7. Philippines237,946
  8. Bangladesh199,872
  9. Pakistan178,763
  10. Nepal162,329
  11. Belarus150,821
  12. Russia136,253
  13. Tunisia133,229
  14. Egypt123,971
  15. Colombia122,635
Source: Eurostat (migr_resfirst, migr_resbc11, migr_acq, educ_uoe_mobs02, migr_eirfs, migr_pop1ctz), CC BY 4.0Data as at 2025

More European permit statistics

Source: Eurostat (migr_resfirst, migr_resbc11, migr_acq, educ_uoe_mobs02, migr_eirfs, migr_pop1ctz), CC BY 4.0Data as at 2025

Official data, not advice. Visa Atlas publishes figures from government registers and statistics. It does not assess eligibility or give immigration advice; for advice, consult a regulated adviser. Read more