Most of the foreign nationals who relocated to the Netherlands in 2020, that is, some 108,000, come from European Union and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, including Switzerland, Norway, etc. The remaining 61,000 came from non-EU countries. However, most of them moved either for higher studies or to boost their career.
Things are quite similar in the rest of Europe. According to the European Commission, on average, 13% of expats who moved within the EU during the pandemic are essential workers. Indeed, faced with a skills shortage in essential sectors, many European countries are paving the way for foreign workers with the required skills, whether they come from EU or non-EU countries.
The European Commission points out that at least one-third of foreign workers who moved within the EU during the past year are low-skilled. These include labourers, construction and mining workers, etc. Indeed, several EU countries have design specific immigration programs for low-skilled workers, given their significant contribution to their economies. Certainly, low-skilled foreign workers seem to be essential, especially in the health, transport or food processing sectors.
However, the migration flow within the EU during the pandemic is determined by many other factors. It is not only a matter of skills. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to several crises, including economic contraction, social and political crises, not to mention the food crisis in some countries, and this drove many people to Europe with hopes of better days. Border closures and the cancellation of flights have played an important role in the slowed-down immigration to Europe. But the labour shortage in key sectors has compelled several EU countries to relax entry restrictions for EU and non-EU countries citizens having essential skills.
Assessing the needs of different key sectors, countries like Italy and Greece chose to relax entry and quarantine requirements until the end of 2020. And there hasn't been any significant change since the beginning of this year despite the progression of the pandemic. Thanks to the reopening of borders and the easing of entry restrictions, there are hopes of economic recovery in EU countries facing labour shortages.
Foreign nationals within the EU
According to the European Commission, nearly 23 million people living in the EU in 2020 are of foreign origin -- this represents 5.1% of the EU's 447.3 million population. It's also worth noting that 8.2% of them, that is, some 37 million people, were born outside the EU. On the other hand, the European Commission points out that 8.7 million are non-EU nationals workers, representing 4.6% of the total of 188.9 million of the working population. However, the latest figures from Eurostat show a slight increase compared to 2019. In 2019, the EU was home to some 20.2 million non-EU citizens. In the same year, 14.1 million EU residents had the nationality of another Member State.
Like every year, Germany seems to be the most welcoming country thanks to its straightforward migration policies, followed by Italy, France and Spain. However, Luxembourg has the highest proportion of foreign nationals -- nearly half of the country's population in 2020. While 7.4% of the population of France is of foreign origin, Poland and Romania, for example, only had about 0, 7%.
Europe remains a top expat destination
As evidenced by a number of surveys and reports published in recent months, Europe remains among the best destinations for expats in 2021, especially for foreign professionals, despite the global health crisis. For example, according to a recent study by Black Tower FM, Switzerland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands stand out for several reasons. The countries offer not only the highest average salaries to expats, but can also boast affordable property prices and cost of living, quality healthcare, as well as happiness, peace and security in general. In addition, these countries have been praised by so many others for their way of managing the COVID-19 pandemic, with relatively lower infection and death rates than other countries around the world.
As European countries reopen their borders, particularly to vaccinated expats and travellers, people are putting their plans back on the table. The wait has been too long in spite of all the issues pertaining to the COVID-19 vaccine recognition in the EU. The coming months should play a vital role as the European Medicines Agency approves the different COVID-19 vaccines administered abroad. This should have an impact not only on immigration in Europe but also on reverse migration.
