19:43 7 July 2025
Poles fleeing Germany for first time since 2008
For years, workers from Eastern Europe—especially Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria—helped offset Germany’s ageing population by filling labour shortages. However, this trend is reversing. In 2024, for the first time since 2008, more people left Germany for other EU countries than arrived, according to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office. Key reasons include improved economic conditions and lower unemployment in Eastern Europe, which now rival Western standards.
Economist Thomas Liebig notes the diminishing pool of migrants willing to work in Germany and stresses the growing labour gap. Germany needs over 300,000 new workers annually, but filling this gap with non-EU migrants will be far more difficult, potentially deepening the country’s workforce crisis.
(wnp.pl)
