In 2014, the number of residence permits issued by Identity Malta, the agency in charge of Malta's residence programme, rose by over 50%, reaching a record high of 13,800 permits. Information published on the Eurostat website shows that the number of permits issued rose by 53%.

The largest proportion of these permits was granted to Libyan nationals, amounting to 3,500 permits. This was more than twice the number of permits issued to Libyan nationals in 2013 and eight times more than that of 2011.

Over 1,400 residence permits were issued to Russian nationals, around 1,200 to applicants from the Philippines while 100 permits were issued to Syrians along 2013 and 2014.

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