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Half a million leave Poland in 2013

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 11.02.2014 10:27
A leading demographer has estimated that up to 500,000 Poles emmigrated in 2013, as Poland's population shrinks still further since it joined the EU in 2004.
Photo: GlowimagesPhoto: Glowimages

Photo:
Photo: Glowimages

“Official statistics point towards what has been another huge wave of immigration,” affirmed Professor Krystyna Iglicka from Warsaw's Lazarski University.

“According to German data, some 200,000 Poles moved there last year. A similar number of our compatriots also went to the UK.

“Large groups have also started to seek their fortune in Norway and the Netherlands,” she added.

Professor Iglicka noted that a significant proportion of the immigrants are those joining family members who have already settled abroad.

If Iglicka's estimates are correct, it would mean that about 2.6 million Polish citizens currently live abroad, with the first major wave of immigration occurring after Poland joined the EU in 2004.

In 2013, about 2.1 people in Poland were registered as unemployed.

Agnieszka Zerek, who runs the Legalis legal advice office for Poles in the UK, says her clients generally find life easier in the UK than in Poland.

“It's easier to get a job, it's easier to maintain a family, it's easier to put money aside and save something,” she said. (nh)

Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna

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