EU countries by foreign-born population

Germany had the highest foreign-born population of 27 EU countries in 2023, at 16.36 million. Malta had the lowest, at 153,361. The median was 933,118. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Keep it in a collection in your library.
Highest16,362,854Germany
Lowest153,361Malta
Median933,11827 EU countries

Map of EU countries, 2023

Austria: 1,963,312 personsBelgium: 2,246,910 personsBulgaria: 168,595 personsCyprus: 247,304 personsCzechia: 990,821 personsGermany: 16,362,854 personsDenmark: 804,061 personsEstonia: 234,743 personsSpain: 8,204,206 personsFinland: 461,205 personsFrance: 8,963,311 personsGreece: 1,164,729 personsCroatia: 490,555 personsHungary: 644,496 personsIreland: 1,150,590 personsItaly: 6,417,206 personsLithuania: 231,822 personsLuxembourg: 333,085 personsLatvia: 235,022 personsMalta: 153,361 personsNetherlands: 2,776,950 personsPoland: 933,118 personsPortugal: 1,733,067 personsRomania: 981,748 personsSweden: 2,144,268 personsSlovenia: 309,289 personsSlovakia: 213,178 persons
  • Under 200K
  • 200K to 600K
  • 600K to 1.1M
  • 1.1M to 2.2M
  • 2.2M and over
persons, 2023. Source: Eurostat, Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2023

Germany: 16,362,854 personsGermany16,362,854France: 8,963,311 personsFrance8,963,311Spain: 8,204,206 personsSpain8,204,206Italy: 6,417,206 personsItaly6,417,206Netherlands: 2,776,950 personsNetherlands2,776,950Belgium: 2,246,910 personsBelgium2,246,910Sweden: 2,144,268 personsSweden2,144,268Austria: 1,963,312 personsAustria1,963,312Portugal: 1,733,067 personsPortugal1,733,067Greece: 1,164,729 personsGreece1,164,729Ireland: 1,150,590 personsIreland1,150,590Czechia: 990,821 personsCzechia990,821Romania: 981,748 personsRomania981,748Poland: 933,118 personsPoland933,118Denmark: 804,061 personsDenmark804,061Hungary: 644,496 personsHungary644,496Croatia: 490,555 personsCroatia490,555Finland: 461,205 personsFinland461,205Luxembourg: 333,085 personsLuxembourg333,085Slovenia: 309,289 personsSlovenia309,289Cyprus: 247,304 personsCyprus247,304Latvia: 235,022 personsLatvia235,022Estonia: 234,743 personsEstonia234,743Lithuania: 231,822 personsLithuania231,822Slovakia: 213,178 personsSlovakia213,178Bulgaria: 168,595 personsBulgaria168,595Malta: 153,361 personsMalta153,361Germany: 16,362,854 personsGermany16,362,854France: 8,963,311 personsFrance8,963,311Spain: 8,204,206 personsSpain8,204,206Italy: 6,417,206 personsItaly6,417,206Netherlands: 2,776,950 personsNetherlands2,776,950Belgium: 2,246,910 personsBelgium2,246,910Sweden: 2,144,268 personsSweden2,144,268Austria: 1,963,312 personsAustria1,963,312Portugal: 1,733,067 personsPortugal1,733,067Greece: 1,164,729 personsGreece1,164,729Ireland: 1,150,590 personsIreland1,150,590Czechia: 990,821 personsCzechia990,821Romania: 981,748 personsRomania981,748Poland: 933,118 personsPoland933,118Denmark: 804,061 personsDenmark804,061Hungary: 644,496 personsHungary644,496Croatia: 490,555 personsCroatia490,555Finland: 461,205 personsFinland461,205Luxembourg: 333,085 personsLuxembourg333,085Slovenia: 309,289 personsSlovenia309,289Cyprus: 247,304 personsCyprus247,304Latvia: 235,022 personsLatvia235,022Estonia: 234,743 personsEstonia234,743Lithuania: 231,822 personsLithuania231,822Slovakia: 213,178 personsSlovakia213,178Bulgaria: 168,595 personsBulgaria168,595Malta: 153,361 personsMalta153,361
persons. Source: Eurostat, Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankEU countries2023
persons
Change on 2022
1Germany Series break16,362,854+7%
2France Provisional8,963,311+3.8%
3Spain8,204,206+9.9%
4Italy6,417,206+4.2%
5Netherlands2,776,950+8.9%
6Belgium2,246,910+6%
7Sweden2,144,268+2.6%
8Austria1,963,312+7%
9Portugal1,733,067+10.5%
10Greece1,164,729+0.4%
11Ireland1,150,590+9.5%
12Czechia990,821+44.5%
13Romania Estimated981,748+18.1%
14Poland Estimated933,118+0.2%
15Denmark804,061+7.8%
16Hungary644,496+5.2%
17Croatia490,555+3.9%
18Finland461,205+7.7%
19Luxembourg333,085+4.6%
20Slovenia309,289+5%
21Cyprus247,304+6%
22Latvia235,022+5.1%
23Estonia234,743+17%
24Lithuania231,822+37.3%
25Slovakia213,1780%
26Bulgaria168,595+18.6%
27Malta153,361+24.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents on 1 January whose country of birth is not the reporting country, all ages and both sexes (Eurostat migr_pop4ctb, country of birth FOR).

Based on country of birth, not citizenship: people born abroad who hold the nationality of the reporting country are counted, and foreign nationals born in the country are not. People born in another EU country count as foreign born. For the share of the population use foreign_born_share.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop4ctb/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb) (EU countries by foreign-born population, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop4ctb/default/table

MLA 9

Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb), EU countries by foreign-born population, 2023. Eurostat, European Commission, 25 Sept. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop4ctb/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/foreign-born-population-number/eu-countries?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb). EU countries by foreign-born population, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop4ctb/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/foreign-born-population-number/eu-countries?period=2023.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb), EU countries by foreign-born population, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop4ctb/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/foreign-born-population-number/eu-countries?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_foreign_2023,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr\_pop4ctb): EU countries by foreign-born population, 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop4ctb/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/foreign-born-population-number/eu-countries?period=2023. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr\_pop4ctb). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr\_pop4ctb/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb): EU countries by foreign-born population, 2023
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/25
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop4ctb/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/foreign-born-population-number/eu-countries?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/foreign-born-population-number/eu-countries?period=2023.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_pop4ctb/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank EU countries by foreign-born population using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"foreign_born_population","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=foreign_born_population&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which EU country has the highest foreign-born population?

Germany, with 16.36 million in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest foreign-born population?

Malta, with 153,361 in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Population on 1 January by group of country of birth, foreign country (migr_pop4ctb). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

EU countries: more rankings