WASHINGTON, Oct 31, 2024—Aging populations are making migration increasingly vital for unlocking economic growth, boosting competitiveness, and tackling inequalities in Europe and Central Asia (ECA), according to a new report from the World Bank. The Journey Ahead: Supporting Successful Migration in Europe and Central Asia identifies demographic shifts as an opportunity to develop and refine migration policies that benefit economies and societies across the region.
As populations age in high- and middle-income countries worldwide, competition for workers is intensifying. In Western Europe, the working-age population is set to decline 14% between 2020 and 2050, underscoring the need to attract foreign workers to sustain economic growth in the coming decades. In many ECA countries, emigration generates income flows through remittances, investments, and skills transfers, but it also creates challenges such as brain drain. Effective policymaking is therefore crucial.
“Managed well, migration can work for everyone involved—countries of origin, destination countries, and migrants themselves,” said Michal Rutkowski, World Bank Regional Director for Human Development, Europe and Central Asia. “Effective migration policies can help match workers’ skills with destination countries’ needs, strengthen refugee support, and relieve pressures that force people to migrate.”
In addition to demographic transitions, the report finds that rising income disparities, climate change, and conflict are expected to drive global migration trends. To this end, governments should distinguish between high-skilled and low-skilled migrants, as well as refugees, tailoring solutions to people’s specific needs and reasons for migrating. Evidenced-based policies that promote safe and orderly cross-border movements are essential for maximizing the shared gains of migration.
Insights from the ECA region, which hosts one-third of the global migrant population, demonstrate the importance of early policy interventions to unlock migrants’ productive potential and self-reliance. This includes developing and strengthening supportive frameworks for refugees, conducting skills assessments, and ensuring access to social protections, healthcare, education, and language training. Initiatives that help connect migrants to local job markets improve outcomes and, when extended to local people in need, can help build social cohesion.
The report underscores that international cooperation is key to ensuring migration is a successful driver of development. While bilateral cooperation can help match migrants’ skills with destination countries’ needs, multilateral efforts are critical to tackling the growing complexities of forced migration and share the costs of hosting refugees. Moreover, ongoing conversations and policymaking around migration should include a wide variety of perspectives, including developing countries, the private sector, and, crucially, migrants and refugees themselves.
Download the report: www.worldbank.org/eca-migration
