Majority of new Italian citizens come from Albania 19.7% of 178.035 in 2015, followed by Moroccans and Romanians

(ANSA) - BRUSSELS - Most new Italian citizens speak Albanian.



According to Eurostat data, 19.7% of the 178.035 people who obtained Italian citizenship in 2015 are of Albanian origin.



Moroccan migrants come second (18.2%), followed closely by the Romanians (8.1%).



In 2015, Italy was the first country in Europe in terms of citizenship granted to migrants, exceeding United Kingdom (118,000), Spain (114,351), France (113,608) and Germany (110,128). All the figures, however, also show a steadily declining trend at European level, with 840,000 citizenship acquisitions in 2015 against 890,000 in 2014 and 980,000 in 2013. The largest number of migrants who obtained European citizenship came from Morocco (86,100), followed by Albania (48,400, 96% of whom in Italy or Greece), Turkey (35,000), India (31,000), and Romania (28,400, half of whom obtained Italian citizenship.



Romanians and Poles (17,800) have been the two largest groups within the EU who have obtained citizenship in another EU member country. (ANSA).





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