Every year, an increasing number of Germans set off to seek a better lot in foreign countries.
As noted by Deutsche Welle, not everyone realizes their desire to seek a better lot in distant lands. But their number is growing every year.
Thus, in 2005, 145,000 people left Germany, in 2006 - 155,000, in 2007 - 161,000. Such a high level of emigration from Germany had not been seen since 1954. There is no data for 2008 yet, but most likely there were even more emigrants. According to preliminary estimates by the Federal Statistical Office – about 10%.
Germans have been seized by wanderlust, but they do not go very far. The most popular destinations are neighboring countries where German is also spoken.
In 2007, 23,000 Germans moved to Switzerland, over 10,000 to Austria, and approximately the same number to Poland. 14,000 residents of Germany emigrated to the USA, 2,300 to China, and 1,250 to the United Arab Emirates. Interest in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand is growing. But the lion's share still goes to EU countries, where neither visa nor work permit is needed, social systems are integrated, and health insurance is easier.
60% of those wishing to leave Germany cite economic and professional considerations as the main motives. 15% cite family reasons - wives join husbands or husbands join wives. The rest are thrill-seekers, dissatisfied with Germany's political order or its climate.
Those who leave Germany are predominantly highly qualified workers. The share of emigrants with higher education is 84%. Over a fifth of those leaving are specialists in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, engineers, and architects. Moreover, as a rule, these are people in the prime of life, who have a decent job and have already made a certain career.
"The best of the best are leaving," laments Rita Ulrich, an expert at the Ministry of Economics. "At the same time, those who want to immigrate to Germany do not have such qualifications." German certified specialists are attracted abroad by interesting work, high salaries, and low taxes. Many count on a quick career and getting rid of the ubiquitous German bureaucracy.
There is also an element of romance, but it is more likely to be succumbed to by less educated residents of Germany prone to adventurism. Their wanderings in distant countries and disappointments are told day in and day out by private German TV channels in endless soap-documentary series.
Among German emigrants with degrees, the share of doctors is especially high, although they earn quite well in Germany as well. In other countries, however, the doctor profession is valued even higher. Promising prospects open up for German medical professionals in Switzerland, Austria, the USA, and Great Britain. These are the countries they go to first and foremost. Currently, approximately 16,000 German doctors work outside Germany; in the year before last, almost three thousand left.
When deciding to emigrate from Germany, Germans are guided not only by material and career considerations. Highly educated people often think about the long-term prospects of the country. They ask themselves questions that State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Economics Walter Otremba formulated as follows: "Where is Germany headed? What are its demographic trends? What burden will fall on our shoulders in the future? What is the ratio of those paying into social insurance funds and those living off them?" Thinking people have something to think about. Many come to the conclusion that other countries are more attractive - due to a different population structure and a larger share of energetic youth.
According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the flow of immigrants to 30 industrialized countries worldwide continues to grow. Last year, their number increased by 5%. Germany, however, is an exception. The number of people wishing to move to Germany for permanent residence or work has decreased by 11%.
They come mainly from Poland, Turkey, Romania, and Hungary. And although the overall balance in Germany is still positive - there were 23,000 more immigrants than emigrants last year - the overall trend worries experts.
If this trend continues, they point out, then by 2020 the working-age population of Germany will shrink, and the country will begin to experience a labor shortage, and not only highly qualified, which already exists now. Experts are, however, encouraged by the fact that not everyone leaves Germany forever: between 20% and 50% of emigrants return within five years of wandering.