EU Economic Downturn Sees In-migration to Productive Countries
The presence of a regional economic and political organization between countries which share commonalities such as location and culture makes it easier for people to travel through borders and move in to other countries. It also makes it easier for people in depressed economies to settle elsewhere where the grass is greener.
This is apparent with the figures from Germany wherein immigration from economically-savaged countries in the European Union (EU) increased sharply in the first half of 2011.
A release by the German Federal Statistical Office in Berlin revealed that immigrants from two troubled economies in the EU- Greece and Spain-rose by 84 percent and 49 percent respectively.
This meant a total of 8, 900 Greeks and 7, 250 Spaniards moved in to Germany from January to June this year.
According to the agency, about 381,000 nationalities from other countries settled in Germany with more than 65 percent or 250,000 coming from the European Union. This means a rise in EU immigrants by 29 percent.
As Europe’s largest economy,Germany experienced high growths in 2011. In contrast,Greece is stuck in a lengthy recession with bail-outs from EU banks while Spain faces its highest unemployment record to date at 20 percent.