A record number of Britons took up German citizenship in 2017, according to authorities who cited Brexit as the “obvious” reason for the leap in numbers. The total number of new Germans of British origin was 7,493. In 2016 the number was 2,865, a leap of 361% from 2015, when 622 Britons made the move. “Just as we saw last year, it was Britons who were the nation in particular where we saw a rise in people becoming [German] citizens,” a spokesman said. Unlike other non-EU citizens, Britons who become German citizens while Britain is still in the EU are able to retain their British citizenship.

Source: The Guardian May 23, 2018 12:56 UTC