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Most Britons Holding EU Residence Permits Cluster in Three Countries
New figures put the number at roughly 920,000 at the end of 2025, with the diaspora concentrated rather than spread.
Adriana Sole434 wordsEdition №122Monday, 21 September 2026 — Edition № 122
About 920,000 British citizens held a residence permit in an EU country at the end of 2025, and most of them are concentrated in three countries, according to data reported by The Local Italy. The outlet did not name the three in its summary, and the underlying dataset is not reproduced in the wire item.
The figure is a measure of the post-Brexit settlement: Britons who moved before or after the UK's departure and who now hold a permit rather than exercising free movement. It is a stock, not a flow, and it says nothing on its own about how many have since left.