The Migration Narrative Crumbles: The Hard Workers Flee Germany
Germany is losing both foreign workers from EU countries and its own skilled professionals despite high unemployment, undermining claims that immigration would solve labor shortages.
For over a decade, politicians and business leaders assured Germans that mass migration would stabilize the labor market, relieve pressure on social systems, and compensate for demographic decline. A new study from the Institute of the German Economy reveals the uncomfortable reality: the migrants who actually worked are staying away, while skilled German citizens are packing their bags and leaving.
According to Nius, workers from newer EU member states had been a crucial pillar of the German labor market for more than ten years. Until recently, these nationals represented 5.0 percent of all employees subject to social security contributions in Germany and were indispensable for seasonal work, particularly in agriculture.
But that equation no longer holds. In 2025, a net 45,000 more nationals from new EU countries left Germany than arrived. In 2024, the figure was already 35,000.
The Institute of the German Economy considers a renewed surge of immigration from this group unlikely. Demographic change is now creating labor shortages in those countries as well, and the economic gap with Germany has narrowed. Workers who are willing to work hard no longer need to emigrate to find employment.
Employment-focused immigration from the Western Balkans has also declined noticeably, falling to just 39,000 people in 2025.
German Professionals Are Leaving Too
Even more painful is the growing exodus of German citizens themselves. While a net 74,000 left in 2023, that number jumped to 97,000 in 2025. The Institute warns that when highly educated professionals leave the country, not only does the labor market tighten, but the economy’s capacity for innovation suffers as well.
Labor Market Remains in Crisis Mode
Unemployment stood at 2.936 million in June 2026, averaging just over 3 million for the year, with an unemployment rate of 6.2 percent. Employment subject to social security contributions actually declined slightly year-over-year rather than increasing.
These figures shatter a favorite progressive narrative of migration as a cure-all for economic and labor market challenges. The data shows unequivocally that fewer of those who actually worked are coming, while the country’s own skilled workers are departing.
Asylum Numbers Declining
There has been some relief in asylum-related migration, though this has little to do with the political “migration turnaround” promised by the Union bloc featuring stricter border controls and consistent rejections.
While 329,000 people filed asylum applications in 2023, only 113,000 did so in 2025. The decline in Syrian asylum applications has been particularly dramatic since the fall of the Assad regime in 2024. Syrian applications dropped from 103,000 in 2023 to 23,000 in 2025. Currently, only about one in five asylum applications from Syrians is approved.
Asylum applications from Afghans fell from 51,000 to 24,000, and from Turkish citizens from 61,000 to 12,000.
Ukrainians, who are admitted outside the asylum system, remain an exception. While they are by far the largest group, net immigration was significantly lower at 89,000 people compared to 116,000 in 2024.
The Bottom Line
Germany faces a double exodus: immigrants who actually wanted to work, and its own skilled professionals who no longer want to stay. Anyone still claiming that mass immigration solves problems in the German labor market is ignoring the numbers.
The uncomfortable truth is that the question is no longer just about who comes, but whether work in this country is even worthwhile anymore.
With information from Nius
