REVEALED: Thousands of Britons still moving to EU countries despite Brexit

More than 42,000 British citizens moved to EU countries in 2023, with the largest groups recorded in Spain, France and Germany, according to data published recently by the EU statistical office Eurostat.

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The data refers to the number of first-time residence permits being issued last year.
It’s defined as “any authorisation issued by the authorities of an EU country allowing a third-country national (non-EU citizen) to stay legally on its territory”.
Based on information provided by national authorities to the EU statistical office, 42,029 first-time residence permits were issued to UK citizens in 2023, a slight drop compared to the 45,794 in 2022.

The largest proportion of these permits were issued for employment reasons(13,423), followed by family reunions (11,074), “other reasons” (10,961), and then education (6,571). “Other reasons” include any option not covered by the other three, from retirement to international protection.
Spain and France the most popular
Spain is the country that issued the largest number of new residence permits to UK citizens (10,166), but only 1,266 were because of jobs. Most of the first-time permits (3,768) were issued for ‘other reasons’, followed by family (3,311) and education purposes (1,821).
The recent news that a British football coach was denied a dream move to Real Madrid due to work permit rules showed that Britons can’t move to Spain so easily after Brexit especially for employment reasons.
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The coach found out the hard way that getting a work permit to live in Spain is now quite tricky, especially for young Brits, who will need to prove that they’re highly skilled while employers must demonstrate that there are no other suitable candidates.
To give some perspective, although the data is not exactly comparable, Eurostat’s immigration data show that some 23,900 British citizens moved to Spain alone in 2018, and over 33,900 in 2019 – so prior to Brexit.
READ ALSO: The reasons why Brits are moving to Spain post-Brexit
France followed, with 8,114 first residence permits granted to UK nationals (although France’s Interior Ministry released figures earlier this year that revealed a slightly higher number of Brits – 9,261 – had been given residency permits in 2023).
The largest proportion of permits received by Brits in France was for employment reasons (3,649), coming before education (1,798), other reasons (1,666) and family reunions (1,001).
READ ALSO: Thousands of Brits move to France despite post-Brexit hurdles
Germany reported 4,584 first residence permits to UK citizens in 2023, of which 1,765 for work, 1,468 for other reasons, 882 for family reunions and 469 for education.
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READ ALSO: The reasons Brits are moving to Germany post-Brexit
The other two most popular countries for British nationals in 2023 were the Netherlands (3,750 first residence permits of which 1,713 for employment) and Portugal (2,565 of which 1,144 for other reasons).
Italy reported 2,177 first residence permits for UK citizens, of which 1,124 for other reasons 621 to join family, 278 for employment and 154 for education.
For Denmark, the total was 1,852, but the majority (1,264) were for work purposes, 280 to join family, 243 for education and 65 other reasons.
Sweden issued 1,632 first residence permits to British nationals, mostly for family reasons (710), followed by employment (474), education (247), and other reasons (201).
Austria reported 529 first residence permits to UK citizens, of which 201 for employment, 191 for family reasons, 70 for education, and 67 for other purposes.
Outside of the EU, but part of the free movement area, Norway registered 1,736 new residence permits to UK nationals, of which 1,033 for employment, 366 to join family, 146 for education, and 201 for other reasons.
In Norway, Britons were the third nationality for first residence permits and in Bulgaria the fourth, although the number of UK citizens moving to Central and Eastern Europe is much lower than in Western Europe.
The Eurostat database does not yet include 2023 data for Switzerland.
Data on first-time residence permits gives a general indication on the number of people who moved to EU countries in a given year, although Eurostat told The Local that “the date of issuance of a permit does not necessarily mean the physical movement of the person on that date, as non-EU citizens might have already temporarily resided on the basis of e.g. short stay visa” or due to irregular stays.
More than 3.7 million first residence permits
In total, in 2023 EU countries reported the granting of more than 3.7 million first residence permits, a 4.7 percent increase compared to 2022, and the highest number ever recorded.
Employment remained the main reason (1.3 million or 33.8%), followed by family (986,000 or 26.4% of the total), other purposes (956,000 or 25.6%) and education (185,900 or 14.3%). The increase compared to 2022 was due to permits issued for education, family reunification and other reasons, while those for employment slightly declined.
The top 10 nationalities receiving these permits were Ukraine, Belarus, India, Morocco, Syria, Türkiye, Russia, China, Brazil and Afghanistan.
Poland issued the largest number of first residence permits in the EU (642,789), followed by Germany (586,144), Spain (548,697), Italy (389,542) and France (335,074).

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The data refers to the number of first-time residence permits being issued last year.
It’s defined as “any authorisation issued by the authorities of an EU country allowing a third-country national (non-EU citizen) to stay legally on its territory”.
Based on information provided by national authorities to the EU statistical office, 42,029 first-time residence permits were issued to UK citizens in 2023, a slight drop compared to the 45,794 in 2022.
The largest proportion of these permits were issued for employment reasons(13,423), followed by family reunions (11,074), “other reasons” (10,961), and then education (6,571). “Other reasons” include any option not covered by the other three, from retirement to international protection.
Spain and France the most popular
Spain is the country that issued the largest number of new residence permits to UK citizens (10,166), but only 1,266 were because of jobs. Most of the first-time permits (3,768) were issued for ‘other reasons’, followed by family (3,311) and education purposes (1,821).
The recent news that a British football coach was denied a dream move to Real Madrid due to work permit rules showed that Britons can’t move to Spain so easily after Brexit especially for employment reasons.
The coach found out the hard way that getting a work permit to live in Spain is now quite tricky, especially for young Brits, who will need to prove that they’re highly skilled while employers must demonstrate that there are no other suitable candidates.
To give some perspective, although the data is not exactly comparable, Eurostat’s immigration data show that some 23,900 British citizens moved to Spain alone in 2018, and over 33,900 in 2019 – so prior to Brexit.
READ ALSO: The reasons why Brits are moving to Spain post-Brexit
France followed, with 8,114 first residence permits granted to UK nationals (although France’s Interior Ministry released figures earlier this year that revealed a slightly higher number of Brits – 9,261 – had been given residency permits in 2023).
The largest proportion of permits received by Brits in France was for employment reasons (3,649), coming before education (1,798), other reasons (1,666) and family reunions (1,001).
READ ALSO: Thousands of Brits move to France despite post-Brexit hurdles
Germany reported 4,584 first residence permits to UK citizens in 2023, of which 1,765 for work, 1,468 for other reasons, 882 for family reunions and 469 for education.
READ ALSO: The reasons Brits are moving to Germany post-Brexit
The other two most popular countries for British nationals in 2023 were the Netherlands (3,750 first residence permits of which 1,713 for employment) and Portugal (2,565 of which 1,144 for other reasons).
Italy reported 2,177 first residence permits for UK citizens, of which 1,124 for other reasons 621 to join family, 278 for employment and 154 for education.
For Denmark, the total was 1,852, but the majority (1,264) were for work purposes, 280 to join family, 243 for education and 65 other reasons.
Sweden issued 1,632 first residence permits to British nationals, mostly for family reasons (710), followed by employment (474), education (247), and other reasons (201).
Austria reported 529 first residence permits to UK citizens, of which 201 for employment, 191 for family reasons, 70 for education, and 67 for other purposes.
Outside of the EU, but part of the free movement area, Norway registered 1,736 new residence permits to UK nationals, of which 1,033 for employment, 366 to join family, 146 for education, and 201 for other reasons.
In Norway, Britons were the third nationality for first residence permits and in Bulgaria the fourth, although the number of UK citizens moving to Central and Eastern Europe is much lower than in Western Europe.
The Eurostat database does not yet include 2023 data for Switzerland.
Data on first-time residence permits gives a general indication on the number of people who moved to EU countries in a given year, although Eurostat told The Local that “the date of issuance of a permit does not necessarily mean the physical movement of the person on that date, as non-EU citizens might have already temporarily resided on the basis of e.g. short stay visa” or due to irregular stays.
More than 3.7 million first residence permits
In total, in 2023 EU countries reported the granting of more than 3.7 million first residence permits, a 4.7 percent increase compared to 2022, and the highest number ever recorded.
Employment remained the main reason (1.3 million or 33.8%), followed by family (986,000 or 26.4% of the total), other purposes (956,000 or 25.6%) and education (185,900 or 14.3%). The increase compared to 2022 was due to permits issued for education, family reunification and other reasons, while those for employment slightly declined.
The top 10 nationalities receiving these permits were Ukraine, Belarus, India, Morocco, Syria, Türkiye, Russia, China, Brazil and Afghanistan.
Poland issued the largest number of first residence permits in the EU (642,789), followed by Germany (586,144), Spain (548,697), Italy (389,542) and France (335,074).