Logo Polskiego Radia

Poland top EU for work permits

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 23.10.2014 08:10
Poland issued more employment permits in 2013 than any other EU country, largely thanks to Ukrainian migration, according to a new report.

photo
photo - PR

The EU's Eurostat agency data shows that some 2.3 million residence permits were issued by the 28 EU countries last year, of which 12% were awarded by Poland, ranking it 2nd in the EU.

In terms of employment permits specifically, Poland issued more than any other country.

First-time residence permits are given to non-EU citizens and can be issued for reasons such as education, family or employment.

However if the permits are measured relative to the number of inhabitants in each country Poland is only sixth in the EU, behind countries such as Sweden and Luxembourg.

The majority of permits issued by Poland went to Ukrainians, who accounted for almost 170,000 of Poland’s permits. The next main groups moving to Poland were Belarusians and Moldovans.

The ongoing Ukraine crisis could not have been primarily responsible for this as it only began in February this year and fighting escalated during this summer, while the data is for 2013.

Instead the weakening Ukrainian economy that year is likely to have been behind the migration. Ukraine entered a recession in 2013, while Poland’s GDP growth remained positive. (si)

tags:
Print
Copyright © Polskie Radio S.A About Us Contact Us