The number of Hungarians deciding to emigrate increased by 46% in 2014, compared to numbers compiled for the previous year by Hungary’s Central Statistical Office (KSH). A total of 31,500 Hungarians left Hungary for a minimum of one year, to find work elsewhere. The KSH notes that the ‘real’ number of emigrants is likely higher than this, as statisticians can only use data obtained from people who have voluntarily disclosed to authorities their decision to leave Hungary. Many have clearly moved away, without reporting this, and they are not added to the KSH statistics.
Equally alarming is the news that not only has the number of people leaving Hungary increased by 46% over a single year, but that compared to emigration figures compiled in 2009, the current rate is six times higher than what it was prior to 2010. According to Ágnes Hárs, chief researcher a Kopint Tárki, this brain-drain is all but certain to continue. “The Hungarian economy, public services and the overall mood of the country are not attractive enough to stop this process. The government’s policies around education are also unattractive, which means that the rate of emigration among young, pre-university Hungarians may speed up,” said Ms. Hárs.
According to KSH’s statistics, 77% of Hungarian emigrants are under 40 years of age. Men comprise the majority of these emigrants (54%) and two-thirds of them are single. The majority of Hungarians who decide to leave Hungary settle in Germany, Great Britain and Austria.
A rendering of the UK flag, referring to the rapidly growing number of Hungarians living in Britain. Hungarians now number over 300,000 in the British capital alone and are increasingly forming organized diaspora community associations, often through Facebook. Photo: Londoni Magyarok Közösség Facebook group.
The Hungarian government, however, refuses to see these Hungarians as emigrants, nor as economic migrants. (Some of our readers will recall Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s disparaging reference to economic migrants who arrive to Europe from other parts of the world, suggesting that their “different cultural characteristics” pose a security risk to the European Union following the Charlie Hebdo massacre.) According to Mr. Orbán’s logic, since the EU is an open, economic space where free movement is permitted, those who leave Hungary are simply accepting employment elsewhere within this common area. Mr. Orbán added that immigration and emigration can only refer to people either arriving in, or departing from the European Union.
As evidenced by the KSH’s publication of the most recent emigration-related figures, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office disagrees with the prime minister’s definition.
