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The objective of the Statistics on Acquisition of Spanish Citizenship of Residents is to provide a quantitative measure of acquisitions of Spanish citizenship by foreign residents in Spain, broken down by sex, age, place of residence, previous citizenship, country of birth and mode of acquisition.
In addition, from 2022 (data from 2019), data will also be broken down by year of arrival in Spain, level of studies, relationship with economic activity and occupation.
Population with usual residence in Spain and that has acquired Spanish citizenship during the reference period.
Acquisition of Spanish citizenship by a foreign person resident in Spain.
Group of foreign persons resident in Spain who acquire Spanish citizenship throughout the reference period.
The statistics cover the entire national territory, and are disseminated for the national total, for each of the Autonomous Communities and Cities, and for the provinces.
From 2013
2013
Number of foreign persons resident in Spain who acquire Spanish citizenship during the reference period.
Calendar year.
Data referred to the period: Anual A: 2023
The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2021-2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of 15 December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2021-2024. (Statistics of the State Administration).
Regulation 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Migration Statistics and International Protection.
The Spanish version of this European Union regulation is accessible at
The results of the Statistics on Acquisitions of Spanish Citizenship of Residents are transmitted internationally as official figures for all purposes.
The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society
No confidentiality measures have been adopted in addition to those already indicated as usual in all INE operations.
The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.
The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)
The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice
Annual
The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web
No specific publications are made. All the information related to the Statistics on Acquisition of Spanish Citizenship of Residents is published on the INE website within the section Demography and population / Demographic phenomena, in the following link:
INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.
The tables with the aggregated results are available at the following link:
Not available
This operation enables to satisfy requests for customised information from users who are not included in the results tables, after a feasibility study by the INE, as appropriate.
The request is made through the User Service Area:
https://www.ine.es/ss/Satellite?c=Page&p=1254735638180&pagename=ProductosYServicios%2FPYSLayout&cid=1254735638180&L=1
The methodology of the operation can be consulted in:
Fields 10.6 to 17.2 of this document are considered as the user-oriented quality report for this operation.
Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.
The Statistics on Acquisition of Spanish Citizenship of Residents is prepared from the statistical processing of acquisitions of citizenship registered in the Civil Registry database.
In order to evaluate and improve the quality of the information received from the Civil Registry, controls are carried out in all phases of the information process up to its publication, including a crossing with data from the Municipal Register. In particular:
- We contrast the monthly information received from the Civil Registry with that received in previous months in order to keep it continuously updated and without duplicates.
- We contrast this information with the Municipal Register to avoid inconsistencies and recover data not reported by the Civil Registry.
- Consistency checks between variables are performed.
- Verification of valid values of the variables.
- For those variables that remain blank, an imputation process is carried out respecting the relative distribution of frequencies.
However, from the computerisation of the Civil Register, this data has good quality, especially as from 2013, when the Statistics on Acquisitions of Spanish Citizenship of Residents was launched.
There is also total consistency between all territorial levels.
The errors and the lack of completion of variables detected in the files received are cleaned with the information from the Municipal Register.
Less than 1% of the files from the Civil Register are disregarded because they are pure duplicates or contain erroneous or incomplete information.
Less than 5% of the acquisitions received cannot be crossed with the Municipal Register for contrast and/or data recovery.
These data comprise the official data on acquisitions of Spanish citizenship of residents in Spain.
It is also available to all users who need to analyse the demographic evolution of the country or be used, in turn, in the production or analysis of other types of statistical information. In addition, such figures are those used by international bodies as data on acquisitions of Spanish citizenship for all purposes.
The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...
On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click next link)
This operation provides all the information required by Regulation 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the European Council on Migration Statistics and International Protection concerning figures on acquisitions of Spanish citizenship of residents in Spain.
The rate of available mandatory results is therefore 100% (R1=100%).
There are no measures of the accuracy of the results of this operation.
The main sources of error in this statistic could stem from recording errors or failure to complete some variables in the Civil Register files. In order to control these errors, the procedures described in point 11.1 are carried out.
Being the Statistics on Acquisitions of Spanish Citizenship of Residents based on administrative sources, they are not affected by sampling errors. Non-sampling errors may come from both the sources and the information treatment in this operation (lack of coverage, measurement errors). The direct measurement of accuracy in this case is not considered possible. The main instrument for analyzing the accuracy is the analysis of the revisions. The revisions show the degree of proximity between subsequent estimators of the same value, and it is reasonable to assume that the estimators converge on the true value when they are based on better and more reliable data. (See 17.2)
Not applicable to this statistical operation, as it is a statistic from administrative sources, and not a sample survey.
Given that this is an operation based on the statistical processing of data from registry sources (see section 18.1), non-sampling errors in this statistical operation are basically due to:
- Possible registration errors, which are corrected by a cleaning process. Of the files from the Civil Registry, approximately 3% are disregarded for being pure duplicates or containing erroneous or incomplete information.
- Possible failure to fill in some variables, for which an automatic imputation process is carried out. For 2023 data we have:
A5(country of previous citizenship) = A7(country of previous citizenship) = 3.4%
A5(country of birth) = A7(country of birth) = 0.1%
- Possible lack of information at the time of estimation due to delays in your registration. This is offset by the consideration of delayed citizenship acquisitions such as occurring in the reference year.
Given the improvement in the pace of data arrival, from 2022 the results are only disseminated once a year, in the second quarter (at the latest 6 months after the reference period), on a definitive basis. I.e. TP2=6.
Until 2021 they were disseminated biannually. The first time, 6 months after the reference period, on a provisional basis, and the second time, 12 months after their reference period, on a definitive basis.
This operation is disseminated within the time frame established in the INE structural statistics calendar (TP3=0; it is disseminated with no delay).
The results keep total interterritorial consistency, at all levels of disaggregation. In addition, they are calculated based on the definitions established in Regulation 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Migration Statistics and International Protection and sponsored, in turn, by the United Nations, thus favouring international comparability.
Data are provided from 2013 according to a homogeneous methodology and, therefore, fully comparable over time.
The annual series of results therefore consists of 11 comparable elements (CC2=11).
The Statistics on Acquisitions of Spanish Citizenship of Residents is developed following the concepts and definitions established by EUROSTAT in Regulation 862/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Migration Statistics and International Protection, which favours its international comparability.
There is another source of information related to the process of acquiring Spanish citizenship by foreigners, which is the Statistics of Granting of Spanish Citizenship due to Residence, elaborated by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security. This statistic differs from the Statistics of Acquisitions of Spanish Citizenship of Residents in two key points: it only considers acquisitions due to residence, and the time reference is the moment of the granting of citizenship, which is a procedure prior to the effective acquisition, so there is a time lag between both statistics. Until 2012, this was the only statistic published. As of 2014 (with data from 2013), the two coexist.
The data have total interterritorial and demographic consistency.
This is a statistic elaborated from administrative sources. Therefore, it does not require the collaboration of reporting units and does not generate data collection costs.
The estimated budget appropriation necessary to finance this statistic foreseen in the 2024 Annual Programme of the 2021-2024 National Statistical Plan is 5.79 thousands of euros.
The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).
This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow: routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.
The INE has a Policy that regulates the basic aspects of the revision of the statistical data, guaranteeing the transparency of the processes and the quality of the products. This policy is described in the document approved by the Board of Directors at the meeting held on 13 March 2015. The document is available in the "Quality and good practices" section of the INE website.
This general policy sets out the criteria to be followed for the different types of revisions: routine revisions—in cases of statistics that by their nature are revised on a regular basis; major revisions, due to methodological changes or changes in basic reference sources of statistics; and extraordinary revisions (for example, those due to an error in statistics already published).
In the case of the Statistics on Acquisitions of Spanish Citizenship of Residents, since 2022 there is only one publication per year, on a definitive basis, so there are no routine data revisions.
As of 2022, this operation is only published once a year, on a definitive basis, and therefore, there is no revision of the data.
Until 2021 (reference period until 2020), provisional data were disseminated six months after the reference period, which were revised by the corresponding definitive data 12 months after the reference period. For the period 2014 to 2020, the most relevant indicators on total acquisitions of nationality were the following:
The Statistics on Acquisitions of Spanish Citizenship of Residents is prepared from the statistical processing of the registrations of acquisition of Spanish citizenship registered in the database of the Civil Registry, of the Directorate General for Legal Security and Public Faith of the Ministry of Justice.
Monthly
Data compiled from the statistical processing of acquisitions of citizenship registered in the Civil Registry database, which are sent monthly to the INE.
Multiple analyses are carried out of the consistency of the evolution of the citizenship acquisition figures and of these with the data from the different demographic statistical sources.
Initially, the Statistics on Acquisitions of Spanish Citizenship of Residents is compiled from the acquisitions of citizenship registered in the Civil Registry database. These registered acquisitions are statistically processed based on:
None