Greece issued 69,786 first residence permits in 2025, a drop of 21 percent from the 87,932 permits granted the year before, according to figures released by Eurostat. It is the first year since the pandemic that Greece has recorded a decline in first residence permits, ending a run of steady increases that had lasted for much of the past decade.
The pullback looks smaller when set against the longer trend. Greece granted about 22,000 first residence permits in 2014, so last year’s total is still more than triple that figure, a rise of roughly 211 percent. Against 2020, when the total slipped to just under 20,000 during pandemic travel restrictions, permits issued last year were up by more than 250 percent.
Greece’s first residence permits split between family, education and other reasons
Family reasons made up the largest share of Greece’s permits last year, Eurostat figures show, with a smaller number issued for education. Most of the remaining permits fell under a broader “other reasons” category that the agency does not break down further for Greece in this dataset.
Greece’s drop stands apart from the wider trend across the bloc. EU countries issued 3.9 million first residence permits to non-EU citizens in 2025, an increase of 10.1 percent, or about 355,350 more than in 2024, Eurostat reported.
In 2025, EUcountries issued 3.9 million first residence permits to non-EU citizens.
🔹 Citizens of 🇺🇦Ukraine (335 100), 🇮🇳India (227 600) and 🇲🇦Morocco (202 100) received the highest number of permits.
More data here ➡️ https://t.co/a3K43oTXNS pic.twitter.com/j4gAX9sMyJ
— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) September 11, 2026
Employment was the leading reason across the EU, accounting for roughly a third of all permits, or 1.3 million, and rising 16.1 percent from 2024. Family reasons followed at 1.1 million permits, up 14.1 percent, while permits tied to education rose 9 percent to about 600,000.
The only category to shrink was “other reasons,” which includes international protection and fell nearly 1 percent.
Other EU countries and top nationalities shape the 2025 permit picture
Other countries moved in different directions than Greece. Croatia’s first permits fell by an even steeper margin, while Spain, Italy and Portugal each posted strong gains, with Portugal’s total nearly tripling from 2024.
Citizens of Ukraine received more first permits than any other nationality in the EU last year, at 335,100, followed by citizens of India at 227,600 and Morocco at 202,100.
By the end of 2025, the bloc held 27.8 million valid residence permits overall, with family reunification the most common basis. Moroccan citizens held the largest number of permits, at 2.2 million, followed by Turkish citizens at 2 million and Ukrainian citizens at 1.7 million.
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