The number of migrants ordered to leave the European Union or found without residence documents rose in 2022, while the number of illegal EU border crossings remained stable, Eurostat reported on Friday.

A total of 422,400 people, a 23% increase, were ordered to leave the EU in 2022, compared to 342,100 in 2021, according to new Eurostat figures, DPA and Agerpres reported.

France issued the most expulsion orders, 135,650, followed by Croatia (40,525) and Greece (33,500). The targets were mostly people from Algeria, Morocco and Pakistan.

Some 96,795 migrants were expelled last year either to another EU country or outside the bloc.

At the same time, almost 1 million people are registered without a residence permit, which is 59% more than in 2021.

After Hungary, the largest number of people without valid documents were registered in Germany and Italy. Most of them came from Syria, Afghanistan and Morocco.

Eurostat data also shows that the situation of illegal border crossings with the EU remained stable in 2022, with 144,060 refusals of entry, a 1% increase compared to the previous year, when 139,000 were registered.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019, the number of illegal border crossings with the EU reached a record of 670,000.