10.62
% of orders to leave in the same year, 2025
Moderate trust, 71 of 100 Only one source (Eurostat), so it cannot be checked against another.
Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.
Show the data as a table
| Year | Eurostat, returned (migr_eirtn) as a share of ordered to leave (migr_eiord) |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 35.91 |
| 2009 | 28.02 |
| 2010 | 27.82 |
| 2011 | 31.89 |
| 2012 | 30.99 |
| 2013 | 52.51 |
| 2014 | 35.94 |
| 2015 | 39.75 |
| 2016 | 36.58 |
| 2017 | 39.45 |
| 2018 | 21.2 |
| 2019 | 32.65 |
| 2020 | 10.47 |
| 2021 | 60.46 |
| 2022 | 8.25 |
| 2023 | 9.33 |
| 2024 | 9.7 |
| 2025 | 10.62 |
All countriesAll of Spain's figuresCompare
Spain among 32 countries
30 have a higher figure and 1 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2019 to 2025.
What this number counts
- Counts
- Third-country nationals returned following an order to leave in a year, as a percentage of third-country nationals ordered to leave in the same year
- Where
- Spain
- When
- Calendar year 2025 (latest year with both counts); series 2008-2025 (the whole period combined, not one year)
Where the number comes from (1 source)
| Source | Figure and year | Definition | Quality | Counts for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Eurostat, returned (migr_eirtn) as a share of ordered to leave (migr_eiord)Eurostat · Administrative recordsRetrieved 2026-10-27 · Data (API) | 10.622025 | Third-country nationals who left Spain following an order to leave in 2025 (5,705), as a percentage of third-country nationals ordered to leave in 2025 (53,700).Each person is counted once per year in each table. Returns include forced returns and assisted voluntary returns; Eurostat says "Unassisted voluntary returns are included where these are reliably recorded". Of those returned, 5,705 (100%) went to a country outside the EU (Eurostat's "returned to a third country", reported on a voluntary basis before 2021). Eurostat's metadata: "Persons who left the territory within the year may have been subject to an obligation to leave in a previous year", so the people returned are not necessarily the people ordered to leave that year, and the share can pass 100%. Eurostat rounds national counts to the nearest 5; the share is calculated here from those rounded counts. Raw files: migr_eirtn.json (c_dest TOTAL; Eurostat update 2026-09-25) and migr_eiord.json (Eurostat update 2026-09-30, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/api/dissemination/statistics/1.0/data/migr_eiord?format=JSON&lang=en&citizen=TOTAL&sex=T&age=TOTAL); geo ES. Eurostat publishes both counts; it does not publish this share as its own indicator. | 5 of 5 checks
| 100% |
- Eurostat100%
How the trust score was worked out
- Quality40 / 40
How well the sources are made
- Agreement15 / 30
Unknown with one source, so set to half
- Independence6 / 20
How many separate ways the number was measured
- Freshness10 / 10
How recent the newest data is
Who reports it, and since when
No source of these kinds: population register, model-based estimate.
- Single source: nothing to check it against
- Eurostat, 2014: From reference year 2014 Eurostat began collecting, on a voluntary basis, statistics on people who left by type of return (voluntary or forced), assistance received, agreement procedure and destination (tables migr_eirt_vol, migr_eirt_ass, migr_eirt_agr, migr_eirt_des). Eurostat calls this a pilot data collection whose figures may be inconsistent with migr_eirtn. source
- Eurostat, 2021: Regulation (EU) 2020/851, amending Regulation (EC) No 862/2007, applies from reference year 2021: return statistics became quarterly and mandatory for all Member States, with more breakdowns for people found to be illegally present and returned (type of return, destination, unaccompanied minors). Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/431 granted some Member States derogations for 2021 to 2023. source
figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change
Why the numbers differ
- Different people in one year: the share divides returns in a year by orders to leave in the same year. Eurostat's quarterly article says the number of persons returned "shall not be directly related to the number of persons ordered to leave in the same reference period"; someone ordered to leave in December may leave in January. Where returns run ahead of orders, the share can pass one hundred percent.
- All returns or returns outside the EU: the rows count every return, including people who went to another European country. Counting only returns to a third country, the EU figure for 2025 is 139,270 returns, 28.61% of orders to leave; for 2024 it is 114,530, 24.64%. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- The European Commission's "20 percent" (press release, 2025-03-11) gives no year or method, so it cannot be matched to a Eurostat year; it is shown on the EU row but carries no weight. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Revisions: Eurostat's annual article (data extracted 29 April 2026) gives 491,950 orders to leave and 155,110 returns for the EU in 2025; the database was updated later, and this page uses the later figures. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- National rules differ: Eurostat says comparability between Member States is limited by national rules and procedures, and countries differ in whether people who leave on their own are recorded.
Common mistakes
- Reading the share as the proportion of the people ordered to leave who later left. It compares two counts of the same year, not a group of people followed over time. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Treating "found to be illegally present" as the number of people living in a country without permission. It counts only people detected by the authorities in the year, and the same person can be counted in more than one country. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Treating an unrecorded departure as a stay. Eurostat counts unassisted voluntary departures only where they are reliably recorded, so some people who leave on their own are not in the returns. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Adding up country rows to get an EU total. Eurostat rounds national counts to the nearest 5 and computes the EU total from unrounded figures, so the sum of the rows can differ from the EU row. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
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From the table How many people found staying illegally in European countries are ordered to leave, and how many actually leave? Updated 2026-10-27.
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Cite as: RealStats, “Returned as a share of orders to leave in Spain”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page.