Citizenship policy is increasingly used by governments in rich countries to define migrants’ “integration expectations,” according to a landmark report on international migration.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organisation based in Paris that promotes the market economy and global trade, published this week its 50th annual international migration outlook.
The report shows a growing migration trend, and integration policy entering “a more constrained and politically contested phase”.
“Tight public budgets, pressure on housing and public services and weaker political appetite for broad-based integration investments have slowed reform and changed its character,” it continues.
Citizenship reforms that took place in 2025-2026 in many of the OECD’s 38 member countries are part of this picture. According to the study, they “point to more stringent conditions” with strengthened requirements on “language proficiency, civic knowledge, fiscal contribution, residence duration and self-sufficiency,” the report adds.
The analysis mentions as examples the removal of the fast-track route to citizenship in Germany, and higher requirements on the knowledge of the language and society in Sweden.
Integration in the labour market
Integration in the labour market remains the “principal objective” of integration policies. “Labour migration schemes are becoming more selective and integration policies are getting more and more focused on the very rapid entry in the labour market, particularly in the Nordic countries,” said at the UK presentation of the report Mark Pearson, OECD Deputy Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs.
Civic integration is also becoming “more prominent”, with stronger requirements about language, civic knowledge and shared values.
In this regard, the study mentions the introduction of the civic exam for first applications for multi-year residence permits in France, and the values and orientation courses introduced in Austria.
Sweden is also considering the feasibility of an Integration Barometer, a survey that would test aspects such as trust in institutions, democratic participation, social networks, language use, belonging and perceptions of discrimination.
“There are differences in the level of efforts that is going on [in integration policy] across different countries. The furthest North you go in Europe, the greater is the effort usually made by policy makers to try and get rapid labour market integration, for instance in Sweden,” Person said.
“There is a kind of north-south gradient, but the most striking policy change recently has been the Spanish experience of trying to regularise a large number of migrants as a way to improve more rapid integration,” he added.
3 million new citizens
The OECD estimates that over 3 million people acquired the nationality of a member country in 2005.
The largest number was registered in the United States (895,000, 9 percent more than in the previous year), followed by Germany (309,000) and Spain (300,000), both at record high levels. Canada ranked fourth with 294,000 new nationals, a 22 percent drop compared to 2024, and the United Kingdom was fifth at 235,000.
Canada is the country with the highest share of foreign residents who acquired citizenship (7.7 percent), followed by Norway (5.5 percent), Sweden (4.5), and Spain (4.3).
Migration on the rise, not everywhere
Across OECD countries 6.1 million new permanent immigrants were recorded in 2025, a decline by 1.6 compared to the previous year. Despite this second consecutive drop, migration levels remain “historically high”, 12 percent above 2019, the report says.
The United States is still the leading destination, with 1.2 million new permanent immigrants, followed by Germany, Spain, Canada and France. But major destination countries, including the USA, the UK, Canada, Germany and Austria, recorded important declines compared to the past, while Southern Europe saw a strong growth. “Particularly large increases” in permanent migration were recorded in Portugal, Italy, Spain, and to a lesser extent in France.
This is attributed to “a combination of regularisation measures, processing of large numbers of pending applications and expanded labour migration opportunities.”
Italy, for instance, “expanded labour migration pathways and increased planned admissions in sectors facing persistent labour shortages,” the report continues.
Family, labour, students
Family reunification was the main reason for migration to OECD countries, with 2.4 million new permits issued for this reason. The United States remained the largest destination country, with 952,000 permits issued for this reason in 2025.
Labour migration represented 20 per cent of the total, and humanitarian migration 10 percent, marking a significant decline.
Student mobility declined from 2.1 million to 1.6 million between 2024 and 2025. The number of international students fell in many English-speaking countries, in particular the United States, Canada and Australia, while it remained stable in the UK.
European countries, especially Austria, Germany and Italy, however, attracted growing numbers of international students.
