Eurostat News Release: Residence permits for non-EU citizens in the EU28: More than 2.3 million first residence permits issued in the EU28 in 2013 – Main beneficiaries from Ukraine, 23 Οκτωβρίου.
In 2013, 2.36 million first residence permits were issued in the EU28 to non-EU citizens, up by 12.5% compared with 2012 but down by 7.0% compared with 2008. The decrease recorded from 2008 is mainly due to the fall in the number of first permits issued for employment reasons (from 0.8 million in 2008 to 0.5 mn in 2013). In 2013, 28.5% of first residence permits were issued for family reasons, 19.7% for education, 22.7% for employment reasons and 29.1% for other reasons.