The IO produces two types of statistics on the subject of residence permits and documents:
- National statistics are produced to meet national needs and follow national definitions;
- European statistics are produced to meet the demands of the European institutions under the supervision of Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Union) following the definitions harmonised at European level (for this theme, the definitions are based on Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007 on Community statistics on migration and international protection, a certain number of directives and the related Eurostat technical instructions).
The difference between the two types of statistics is mainly due to the fact that EU citizens are excluded from European statistics.