Positive migration balance in Hungary’s latest statistics!

2019 was the first year since Hungary’s accession to the EU when the international migration balance was positive. Accordingly, last year the number of Hungarians who returned to their homeland was higher than the number of those who emigrated from the country.

The positive migration balance means that fewer Hungarians migrated abroad than the number of Hungarians who returned. According to the Central Statistical Office, 21,900 Hungarians emigrated last year, while 23,172 people returned home, resulting in the positive migration balance. As the Hungarian news portal Portfolio reports,

this positive tendency has not been experienced since 1990.

Compared to the previous years, the number of Hungarians who returned to their homeland decreased slightly; however, the number of those who left Hungary decreased by 2,000 last year, showing a declining willingness to emigrate. Demographically, the most painful year was 2014, when Hungary had a negative balance of 20,000 people, which has been improved by now.

The freshly published data series of the Central Statistical Office also reveal that since Hungary’s accession to the EU in 2004, nearly 240,000 Hungarians tried their fortune abroad; during this period, the number of returners was 130,000.

Concerning the list of destinations, Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom are still the most attractive countries for Hungarians.

In 2019, there were almost 200,000 Hungarians in Germany, nearly 83,000 in Austria and 78,000 in the United Kingdom. As far as emigration statistics are concerned, in 2019 about 7,500 Hungarians emigrated to Austria, 6,100 to Germany, and 2,800 to the United Kingdom. The Brexit might explain the declining tendency of migration to Great Britain.