Talent Abroad: A Review of German Emigrants
More than three million individuals who were born in Germany lived in another OECD
country in 2010/11. To assess the potential that this group represents for the German
labour market, this review establishes the distribution of German emigrants over OECD
countries, as well as their age, sex, and educational attainment. Shifts in the German
diaspora towards European destination countries and higher educational attainment
are documented. The largest German diaspora still resides in the United States, but
the diaspora in Switzerland and Spain has grown particularly quickly. International
students from Germany have even come to represent the largest group of international
students from any OECD country. While German emigrants experience less favourable
labour market outcomes than their peers in Germany, the emigrants work disproportionately
often in high-skill occupations. Survey evidence suggests that many Germans in Germany
consider emigration and that many German emigrants are open to return. Those who have
returned in recent years, however, appear to have a lower educational attainment than
those leaving.
Published on June 01, 2015Also available in: German
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