From Opportunity to Integration: Enhancing Migration Outcomes in Europe and Central Asia

The World Bank's report on migration in Europe and Central Asia highlights how migration drives economic opportunity and addresses demographic challenges but also faces integration and brain drain issues. The report advocates coordinated policies to maximize benefits for migrants, origin, and destination countries.

A research authored by Laurent Bossavie, Daniel Garrote Sánchez, and Mattia Makovec from the World Bank, the dynamics of migration in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) are analyzed with a focus on trends, challenges, and potential solutions. Hosting over 100 million migrants, one-third of the global migrant population, ECA demonstrates both the economic opportunities and the complexities of migration. Within the region, migration is driven by economic appeal, demographic shifts, income disparities, and increased mobility, affecting both origin and destination countries. For Western Europe, facing labor shortages and an aging population, migration provides a critical workforce, as the working-age demographic is set to decline by 14 percent by 2050. For origin countries, migration offers relief by creating employment opportunities abroad, especially for younger populations with limited local job prospects. Migrants themselves experience life-changing economic benefits, as wages can double in destination countries, an advantage rarely matched by domestic policies. Beyond individual gains, migration has widespread benefits for origin countries through remittances, knowledge transfers, and poverty reduction, delivering economic stability and supporting families left behind. In Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, for example, remittances account for over a third of GDP, underscoring migration’s economic impact.

Challenges of Unmet Potential and Lost Skilled Labor

Despite the gains, migration in ECA faces inefficiencies and vulnerabilities that limit its full potential. High-skilled migrants often encounter issues such as occupational downgrades or difficulties in credential recognition, while low-skilled migrants deal with irregular employment and lack of preparation, exposing them to labor market risks. The phenomenon of brain drain affects several countries, particularly in the healthcare and education sectors in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe, where skilled worker departures create local labor shortages. In destination countries, migration offers net economic benefits, though these are not evenly distributed. For instance, high-skilled migration drives productivity and innovation, but the loss of these workers negatively affects the origin countries’ economies, creating social pressures and political challenges when local benefits are not equally shared. Refugees, especially, face significant barriers in long-term integration; the report highlights that, even after a decade or more, refugees’ labor market outcomes often lag behind other migrant groups.

Enhancing Integration with Early Interventions

To fully unlock migration’s potential, the report recommends effective policies tailored to the distinct needs of low-skilled and high-skilled migrants and refugees. Migrants’ contributions to their host countries improve significantly with early support, particularly for refugees. Nordic countries, for example, have seen success in refugee integration through programs that include compulsory language training and region-based placement aligned with local labor needs. Türkiye’s experience with over three million Syrian refugees offers further insights; the government’s support in housing, healthcare, and labor access has facilitated smoother transitions. The report also advocates for bilateral agreements between origin and destination countries to address labor shortages and skill gaps, recommending that destination countries focus on matching migrants’ skills to market demands. Some European countries have implemented job-search visas, aiming to attract workers with specific qualifications and improve labor-market alignment.

Mitigating Brain Drain with Global Partnerships

For countries struggling with brain drain, the report suggests policies to counter the departure of high-skilled labor by developing flexible educational systems that respond to both domestic and foreign job markets. One solution is the establishment of Global Skill Partnerships, which allow origin and destination countries to share the costs and benefits of training skilled workers. Engaging the diaspora also provides a way for origin countries to leverage the knowledge and resources of emigrants. Supporting diaspora networks and creating incentives for high-skilled workers to return can help channel expertise and investment back to the home countries, fostering local development and innovation.

Coordinating Policies for Sustainable Migration Benefits

The World Bank researchers highlight the importance of unified frameworks that involve both sending and receiving countries, promoting policies that maximize migration’s socioeconomic benefits while addressing the challenges and vulnerabilities migrants face. As migration patterns and needs continue to evolve across ECA, proactive and coordinated policies will be crucial to balance the benefits and ensure positive outcomes for migrants, their families, and the economies they impact.