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The number of Turkish nationals granted German citizenship more than doubled in 2024 compared to a year earlier, rising by 110 percent to 22,525, Deutsche Welle Turkish service reported on Tuesday, citing data from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
Turks became the second-largest group of new German citizens after Syrians, who topped the list with 83,150 naturalizations. They were followed by Iraqis (13,545), Russians (12,980) and Afghans (10,695).
The total number of people naturalized in Germany last year reached 291,955 — the highest annual figure recorded since 2000, when the country began publishing citizenship statistics. The overall increase marked a 46 percent rise from the previous year.
The sharp rise in naturalizations was largely attributed to reforms introduced under a citizenship law that came into force on June 27, 2024. The revised legislation shortened the required period of legal residence for naturalization from eight to five years, and in some cases to as few as three years for individuals demonstrating successful integration. It also removed the previous requirement to renounce one’s original citizenship, allowing for dual nationality.
The change was particularly welcomed by Germany’s Turkish diaspora, many of whom had previously refrained from applying for German citizenship due to the loss of Turkish nationality. According to Destatis, the average length of stay in Germany for Turks who were naturalized in 2024 was 23.1 years, compared to seven years for Syrians.
The new citizenship law was introduced by Germany’s former governing coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). However, a provision allowing naturalization after just three years was later repealed by the new coalition of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the center-left SPD, which took office in May 2025.