For the first time in 25 years: Poles are leaving Germany in numbers exceeding those arriving.
For the first time in 25 years, more Poles left Germany than entered it, according to data from the German Federal Statistical Office Destatis for 2024. After being a preferred destination for Polish workers, Germany has seen a decline in the number of arrivals from Poland compared to those leaving for the first time since 2000.
The number of people who moved from Germany to Poland last year was 90,807, while only 82,082 people immigrated to it. The flow of Poles to Germany has increased since 2011 when Germany opened its labor market to citizens of Poland and the seven other countries that joined the European Union in 2004.
Andrzej Kobisiak, Deputy Director of the Polish Institute of Economic Research (PIE), wrote on platform X that 2024 saw more Poles returning to their country compared to those who left for Germany. He explained that this trend is not limited to Poland but includes Central and Eastern European countries, considering it positive news for Poland, especially in light of demographic challenges. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that workers from Eastern Europe, especially in the fields of care and agriculture, have long been an essential part of the German labor market, but the number of arrivals from Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria to work in Germany has begun to decline.
The newspaper attributed this to the convergence of economic conditions between the Eastern and Western European Union countries. Kubisiak confirmed in an interview with Euronews that this trend represents a positive shift for Poland, noting that countries like Ireland and the United Kingdom are no longer as attractive to Polish workers as they once were. Experts believe that the stability of the labor market in Poland, the decrease in unemployment rates, and the increase in wages have made Germany less appealing to Poles. The economic recession that Germany is experiencing may also be one of the reasons for its declining attractiveness to Polish workers. The growth of the Polish economy over the past three decades has outpaced all other EU countries, which has led to a decline in the incentives that drove Poles to emigrate.
At an event titled "Removing Obstacles to Facilitate Life" held on Monday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk praised economic progress, asserting that the Polish economy will rank twentieth globally by 2025, surpassing Switzerland, and that the purchasing power of Poles has now exceeded that of the Japanese. Although the data does not clarify whether all Poles who left Germany have actually returned to their country or moved to other European countries, experts believe that a significant percentage of them have indeed returned to Poland.