This figure can be compared with 40 million in 2010, the report said, citing data from Eurostat and the UN Refugee Agency.
Germany remained the largest host of the foreign-born bloc with nearly 18 million, 72% of whom are of working age, while Spain saw the fastest recent growth, adding around 700,000 people, bringing the foreign-born population to 9.5 million.
– Germany remains the main destination for migrants in Europe, both in absolute terms and, to a significant extent, in relation to the number of inhabitants,” said Tommaso Frattini, one of the authors of the report.
The study says migration patterns are uneven across the bloc, with Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus facing higher proportions of immigrants relative to their population sizes.
Asylum applications were also concentrated in certain countries, with Spain, Italy, France and Germany accounting for almost three-quarters of all applications. Germany received the largest number of refugees, a total of 2.7 million.
(Vijesti.ba / Fena)
