Poland overtakes UK as country attracting new residents from outside EU
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EU residence permits given to citizens from outside the bloc reached a record high last year as Europe’s economic rebound encouraged 1m to migrate legally for work — the first time the landmark figure has been reached across its 28 member states.
The search for jobs helped to drive more than 3m people to move legally to the EU in 2017, the fourth successive year of growth, mirroring Europe’s recovery from a multiyear recession. Residence permits granted to asylum seekers fell, reflecting an easing of the migration crisis that dominated EU politics in 2015 and 2016.
Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, said 767,000 residence permits were issued in 2017 for reasons not related to work, family or education — a category that mostly covers people moving for humanitarian reasons and international protection.
Despite political uncertainty linked to the electoral gains of various rightwing parties and the looming perspective of Brexit, the figures show that Europe remains an attractive destination for newcomers seeking employment, education and international protection — but patterns of movement differ substantially from country to country.
Poland attracted the highest number of new residents — almost 700,000 — with some 85 per cent drawn in for jobs from neighbouring Ukraine. Germany attracted the greatest numbers moving for asylum, with 500,000 new residents from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. It was one of two countries, along with Austria, where most new permits were granted to asylum seekers.
The UK was traditionally the main destination for those looking for jobs but was overtaken by Poland in 2016 — the year that Britain voted to leave the EU. However Britain remains by far the top EU destination for those moving for education — a sign of its buoyant schools and university sector. Almost 180,000 came to the UK in 2017 for education-related reasons, mainly Chinese, US and Indian nationals.
The highest proportion of newcomers relative to a country’s population were registered in Malta, Cyprus and Poland.
