EU countries granted citizenship to almost a million people in 2016, with Croatia recording the highest naturalisation rate, said Eurostat on Monday.

Around 995,000 citizenships were granted in 2016, marking an increase compared to the year before, when 841,000 people became citizens in the countries of the EU.

Almost all member states recorded a growth in granted citizenships in 2016 compared to 2015, and Croatia recorded a jump from 1,196 to 3,973 new citizens, some 38 percent of whom were from Bosnia and Herzegovina, 18.5 percent from Serbia, and 4.4 percent from Chile. The most new citizenships were granted by Italy (201,000) and the fewest by Lithuania (176).

Croatia also had the highest naturalisation rate – the ratio of granted citizenships over the number of non-nationals in the country – at 9.7 per 100 citizens. Croatia was followed by Sweden, with 7.9, and Portugal, with 6.5.

Of those acquiring citizenship, some 88 percent came from non-EU countries. Around 101,000 Moroccans comprised the largest single group, and most of them became citizens of Spain, Italy, or France. They were followed by Albanians (67,000), who mostly received citizenships of Italy or Greece.

As for those switching citizenship within the EU, Romanians changed their citizenship the most (29,700), followed by the Poles (19,800).