New Atlas of Demography story on migrant workers in the EU

A new thematic story in the Atlas of Demography highlights the key contribution of migrant workers to the EU labour market.

Eurostat estimates that by 2070, the size of the EU’s working age population will decrease from about 65% to between 56% and 54% of the total EU population in the EU27.

The ageing society in the EU results in the rise in the number of older people, which generates an increasing demand for a qualified workforce in the long-term care sector and the health sector.

In this context, migrants can contribute to addressing skills shortages. In the last decade, migrant workers have helped to address labour market needs that cannot be filled by mobilising the domestic workforce alone.

Since several years, the health and agricultural sectors are experiencing an increase in the share of migrants in the employed workforce.

In 2018, there were almost two millions health and long-term care workers in the EU working in a different country than the one they were born in.

That same year, projections showed that the EU’s health and long-term care workforce needed to grow by 11 million workers to meet the demands of an ageing population in 2030.

Jobs on EU farms are also increasingly being filled by migrants who help to cultivate some of our most common kitchen staples.

Between 2011 and 2017, the share of migrant workers in the EU agricultural sector increased from 4.3% to 6.5%.

13% of key workers in the EU are migrants

Overall, 13% of all key workers in the EU are migrants, although in some specific sectors and key low-skill jobs the share of migrants is much higher.

Eurostat data shows that in 2020, the non-EU nationals residing in EU-27 Member States represented 4.9% of total population.

But they accounted for 11,9% of cleaners and helpers, 9,0% of personal service workers, 5,8% of building workers, 5,6% of workers in mining, construction, manufacturing and transport and 5,1% of personal care workers.

COVID-19 highlighted the key role of migrant workers

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the role of migrants as key workers in the EU labour market. They provided a critical contribution to the efforts to keep basic services running in the EU during the lockdown periods.

Nonetheless, there was a sharp decrease in the employment rates of non-EU nationals during the pandemic.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, the employment rates fell by about 2 percentage points for natives, 2.5 percentage points for workers born in a different EU country, and almost 4.5 percentage points for non-EU born migrants by the first quarter of 2021.

Low wages, lack of job security and social protection made migrant workers more vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

By the third quarter of 2021 the employment rates had returned to the pre-pandemic levels for all workers, including non-EU born migrants, which re-confirms the essential role that migrants play in European labour markets.

Explore the new Atlas of Demography story for more data on migrant workers in the EU.