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Hungarian Emigration
According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, 239,924 Hungarians have moved abroad since 2010. The phenomenon of emigration has not been as significantly influenced by Hungary joining the EU in 2004, as by the first waves of the international economic crisis in 2008. As a consequence of the decreasing employment rate, an increasing number of Hungarian nationals decided to move abroad. 7.4% of Hungarians between the ages of 18-49 lived abroad in 2013 and their number has significantly increased, as evidenced by the 32,852 Hungarians who moved abroad in 2015. However, since 2015 trends of emigration numbers steadily decreased. In 2019, emigration of Hungarian citizens to OECD countries decreased by -21% and in 2020, emigration of Hungarian amount to 19,322 persons. Main countries of interest are Germany, where the number of Hungarians is estimated to be around 200,000; Austria (83,000) and the United Kingdom (78,000). The latest emigration trends show that Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium have also become popular destination countries for Hungarian nationals.
According to the data of the World Bank, Hungary received 3,82 billion USD in the form of remittances from the members of the diaspora in 2020, and with this result it takes the 38th place among the countries receiving the highest amount of remittances from abroad.
To address the increasing pace of emigration, the Hungarian Government launched a program in 2015 (“Gyere haza fiatal”) to encourage the return of young Hungarians living in the UK. The program was operational from 2015 to 2016 and offered Hungarians with a higher education degree job opportunity, housing assistance, and mobility grants to facilitate the travel of those interested in returning for job interviews and mentoring.
Learn more about IOM's related programming in Hungary: