Immigration law enforcement in the EU: 2023 figures

In 2023, 118 935 non-EU citizens were refused entry into the EU territory at one of its external borders, a 16% decrease compared with 142 420 in the previous year. 

An additional 1.27 million people were found to be illegally present in one of the EU countries, indicating a 13% increase compared with 1.12 million in 2022. 

This information comes from data on the enforcement of immigration legislation published by Eurostat today. The article presents a selection of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.  

Source datasets: migr_eirfs, migr_eipre, migr_eiord1, migr_eirtn1

The number of non-EU citizens issued with an order to leave an EU country was 484 160, an increase of 4% compared with 2022 (466 350). 

Non-EU citizens returned to another country: +25% compared with 2022

Following an order to leave, 111 185 non-EU citizens were returned to another country (including other EU countries), a 25% increase compared with 88 910 in 2022. Out of the 111 185, 91 465 were returned to the countries outside the EU.

Germany reported the largest number of non-EU citizens returned to another country (15 445), followed by France (12 170) and Sweden (10 330).  

Georgians (10 345) topped the list of non-EU citizens returned to another country, followed by Albanians (7 810) and Turks (5 595).

Source dataset: migr_eirtn