Countries across Europe ordered more than 1,000 Britons to leave their territories in 2023, according to recent data from EU stats agency.

In total EU countries plus Schengen area countries including Norway and Switzerland ordered 1,040 British citizens to leave their territories in the first nine months of 2023, according to data published at the end of December by the EU statistical office, Eurostat.

As for France, the country demanded 100 British citizens leave the country between January and September 2023. This reflects an increase from 2022, when 75 Brits were ordered to leave France. Overall since the end of the Brexit transition period some 215 Brits have been ordered to leave France, according to figures from Eurostat.

Over 200,000 Britons registered to live in France following Brexit.

Figures for pre-Brexit were not recorded given the UK was a member of the EU.

When comparing the UK with other English speaking countries, India comes out on top with 1,575 citizens ordered to leave France during the first nine months of 2023. The UK came in second place, and the US came in third with 70 Americans ordered to leave.

There were also 35 Canadians and 15 Australians ordered to quit France over the same period.

READ MORE: What happens when someone is given an ‘order to leave France’?

What about other European countries?

Despite having one of the highest populations of UK nationals in the EU – estimated around 200,000 based on the number of post-Brexit residency cards handed out – France fell behind other European countries when it came to issuing Brits orders to leave.

According to provisional data from Eurostat, the EU countries that issued the largest number of orders to leave to UK citizens in the first nine months of last year were the Netherlands (275), and Sweden (135).

Whilst the number for the Netherlands is far higher than elsewhere authorities have previously said that when a residency application is rejected or a permit is withdrawn, the person ordered to leave can still apply for a residence permit or appeal the decision, so the final number is likely to be lower than the figure given.

Sweden’s figure of 135 for the first 9 months of 2023 compares to 385 leave orders to UK citizens in the whole of 2022, so quite a big drop.

According to research from our sister site The Local Sweden, the high number in 2022 may have been due to the fact that large numbers of Brits were either denied the right to stay after Brexit or were ordered to leave if their post-Brexit paperwork was not in order.

But Norway, which is not a European Union member but is part of the free movement area with the EU, saw a rise in the number of reported orders to leave issued. Oslo ordered 215 Britons to leave in the first nine months of 2023 compared with 130 in the whole of 2022.

As such, France came in fourth place behind the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway with its 100 orders to leave.

After France came Denmark (55), Belgium and Latvia (40), Finland (35), Malta (25), Germany and Greece (15), and Austria (5).

Spain, which hosts the biggest UK community in the EU, has not reported any Britons being ordered to leave last year, nor did Italy or Switzerland, according to the Eurostat data.

Eurostat data is pulled from member states own reporting which may differ widely and explain some of the differences between countries. Eurostat’s data is sometimes disputed with a country’s own figures. For example last year Swedish authorities claimed the numbers presented by Eurostat were far higher than the real number of orders to leave handed out to Britons.

The trend shown by the latest Eurostat data suggests a slight decrease in the number of Britons ordered to leave EU countries compared to 2022, when the total was 1,270. But the figure for the full year of 2023 will be available only later in the spring.

Why were people told to leave?

Eurostat data does not specify the reasons why Britons were given the orders so it is not clear why exactly all these British nationals were asked to leave. It also doesn’t make clear the residency status of those subject to the orders.

READ MORE: Overstaying, working without a permit and polygamy – what can get you deported from France?

Overall, according to the EU statistical agency, more than 324,000 non-EU citizens were ordered to leave EU countries between January and September 2023, the largest number (over 102,000) being recorded in France.

Separate Eurostat data revealed that following an order to leave, some 470 British citizens were returned to the UK or another country between January and September last year.

Of these, 125 were deported by Sweden, 55 by Denmark and the Netherlands, 45 by Austria (provisional figure), 35 by France and Latvia, and 20 by Finland.

Norway returned 65 British nationals and Switzerland 5, while Germany, Italy and Spain did not return any.