It’s time to move abroad!

Numbers show Europeans are relocating now more than ever

Recent data on expats highlight two significant trends. Firstly, Europe and Asia have seen a substantial rise in people moving, each hosting more than 86 million, accounting for 61 % of the world’s total expat population. North America follows these regions, with almost 59 million expats.

Secondly, almost half of all expats resided within their region of origin. Europe experienced the most cross-border mobility, meaning most Europeans relocated to another European country and not overseas.

The initial predictions of researchers in 2020 suggested that COVID-19 would stop expats from moving. However, now that we are able to evaluate the trend before and after the pandemic, it is clear that relocations only slowed down briefly during that time but are already back with numbers higher than ever.

What does this mean?

Based on our research of the period between 2019 and 2022, there was a 59 % increase in international relocations in the EU. This means that there is a significant rise in mobility as people choose to relocate more frequently.

“The rise in relocation and migration across Europe is a trend that’s vividly reflected in our operations,” says Robert B. Dedus, Head of Sales at Eurosender.

If we take a closer look at the data gathered from all the European countries, we can quickly see that:

• The total number of expats is reaching all-time high numbers in multiple countries, including Germany and the Netherlands.
• Germany is the country with the highest absolute number of expats, followed by Spain, Czech Republic, Netherlands, and Austria.
• Only 9 out of 27 countries had a negative migration rate, which means that more people left the country than moved to it.
• The country with the biggest decrease in migration is Cyprus, followed by Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

These numbers would not be possible without the advancements in logistics. We at Eurosender are in a very special position to be able to help expats relocate because as a freight forwarder, we can connect them with the right company for moving their belongings.

“Over the past 4 years, there’s been a noticeable surge in the demand for our relocation services in Europe, marking it as one of our most popular solutions. Our data aligns with the migration trend observed across the whole European continent,” added Robert B. Dedus.