Around 900,000 UK citizens are long-term residents of other EU countries, according to new analysis published today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In response to increasing demand for information on British people living in Europe, ONS analysts have drawn together statistics from across the EU. This publication provides data on UK citizens and those born in the UK, who have lived for 12 months or more abroad within the EU and the wider European Economic Area (EEA).

The data show that Spain is host to 308,805 UK citizens, the largest number of any single European country. France, Ireland and Germany are also home to relatively large numbers of British citizens.

Jay Lindop, ONS Deputy Director for Population, said:

“ONS has produced this analysis to give a clearer picture of UK citizens living in the EU and EEA.

“These data are from censuses held in 2011, the most recently available source of comparable data for all countries. Our research suggests that there has not been a great deal of change in the numbers between 2011 and 2016.

“The overall figure of 900,000 is different to estimates which have been cited previously in public debate, which focus on country of birth rather than citizenship.”

Read the full report.

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