Europe | Home to 46 million working-age immigrants

Summary

Europe’s post-pandemic economic recovery has relied significantly on immigration. Simple growth accounting exercises suggest that immigrants may have contributed around half of recent GDP growth. As the native workforce declines, immigration is becoming increasingly important to sustain economic activity.

Key points

• Key points:
• In the European Union (EU), nearly 46 million people of working age who were born outside the bloc reside there, representing 16% of the total population aged 15 to 64.
• Annual immigration inflows reach 6.2 million people, driven both by the conflict in Ukraine and by a generalized increase in arrivals to most EU countries.
• The foreign-born population is younger than the native population, with nearly half concentrated in the prime working ages of 25 to 49, and their participation in the labor market continues to rise.
• Two out of every three jobs created in the EU over the past four years have been covered by foreign workers.
• The impact of immigration has been particularly strong in economies such as Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, and it has helped prevent a deeper stagnation in Germany. By contrast, its role has been more limited in France and Italy.

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