Across the European Union (excluding Croatia and Poland, for which 2022 data is not yet available), there were 2.684m first residence permits issued, representing a significant 39% surge compared to 2021’s 1.93m permits.

When considering per thousand inhabitants, Luxembourg ranked fifth highest among its European peers, with Malta taking the top spot, issuing 70 first residence permits in 2022 for every 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Cyprus (42), Ireland (17) and Slovenia (16).

On the opposite end of the spectrum were Romania (2), Bulgaria (2) and Greece (3).

As for why the residence permit was granted in the grand duchy in 2022, family reasons accounted for 45% (4,181), followed by employment at 35% (3,204), education at 7% (633) and others at 13% (1,227).

Notably, the share of employment-related first residence permits at 35% marked the highest recorded number since 2010.

Regarding third-country origins, 1,304 Indian nationals received their first residence permits in 2022 for the grand duchy, comprising 14% of the total, which was more than twice the number of Syrians, who ranked second with 497 permits.

For employment reasons, Indian nationals topped the list with 649 residence permits, followed by Tunisia (187), China (157), Mauritius (157) and Morocco (156).

In terms of family reasons, the top five countries were India (603), Brazil (367), Russia (229), the United States (173) and Montenegro (169).

For education purposes, residence permits were primarily granted to nationals from Cameroon (60), followed by China (54), India (52), Iran (45) and the Philippines (41).

In 2022, 119 Ukrainians received their first residence permits, excluding temporary protections, contributing to a total of 4,268 Ukrainian immigrants by the end of the year.

As of 1 January 2023, the total registered residents in Luxembourg, regardless of nationality, amounted to 660,809, a net increase of 15,412 people throughout 2022, as reported by Statec, the grand duchy’s statistics bureau.