Coming or Going? Net loss from emigration discussed

A pro-government columnist contends that emigration trends are reversing and an increasing number of Hungarians are returning home. The leading online financial journal suggests that Hungary’s migration balance is still negative.

Addressing the board meeting of Fidelitas, the youth organization of Fidesz, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga said that the government’s policies targeting young Hungarians have been successful. He said youth unemployment is below 10 per cent, and emigration trends have reversed. Minister Varga added in the past year, 20,000 Hungarians have returned from abroad to find jobs in Hungary.

In Magyar Idők, Gergely Kiss finds it peculiar that the Left blames emigration on the government. The pro-government commentator recalls that liberals and social democrats in the 2000s complained about the immobility of young Hungarians, and while in government, they tried to facilitate the temporary employment of Hungarians abroad. As opposed to the Left, he writes, the Fidesz government helps families and young Hungarians, and as a result, more and more Hungarians return home.

Hungary’s migration balance is still negative, Portfolio comments on Minister Varga’s calculation. The leading online financial journal points out that in the absence of proper statistics, it is close to impossible to asses the exact number of Hungarians who work abroad as well as the number of returning migrants. Citing the data of the National Statistical Office, Portfolio acknowledges that the number of registered emigrants declined by 20 per cent year on year in early 2018, but while the gap is closing, more Hungarians are leaving than returning, Portfolio concludes.

Tags: emigration