London, Apr 13 (IANS): More than 10,000 Britons have taken up citizenship of a European Union (EU) mwmbwe country since the UK voted to exit the bloc in 2016, according to official figures.

According to Eurostat, the EU's statistical body, more than 6,000 UK nationals have become German and over 3,000 have taken up French citizenship since the June 23, 2016 vote, the Metro newspaper reported on Sunday.

The figures suggest that the Brexit vote is the cause.

There has been a six-fold increase in the number of Britons taking EU citizenship since 2015, when 2,642 successful applications were made.

Some 16,193 EU citizenships were given in 2018, the latest year for which official data are available.

Of the successful applications, 40 per cent were for German citizenship.

It has been suggested that the rise in applications for German citizenship was because it allows dual nationality to EU member states.

The UK officially left the bloc at 11 p.m. on January 31 and has now entered a transition period until the end of the year.