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.
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Numbers and locations of German emigrants
This chapter establishes the total size of the German diaspora in the OECD area at 3.4 million and draws comparisons with other large diasporas worldwide. The composition of the German emigrant population is determined with regards to sex, age and duration of stay. The main destination countries of German emigrants are identified, and by comparing changes in levels over the last decade, the chapter documents a shift towards European destination countries. It also explores how developments in recent years have changed the number and composition of the German emigrants in these main destination countries.
Also available in: German
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