Increasing migration has positive effects on the economy
Refugees and migration was the central issue debated at the conference on “Regional impacts of migration in Germany” organised by DGD (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Demographie – German association for demography) and BBSR (The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning) on 3rd – 4th December 2015 in Berlin. GWS contributed to the conference with a scenario analysis presented by Britta Stöver about quantitative impacts of migration on the economy. The effect of different levels of net migration on the labour market, investments in construction, education and health care were shown. As main results one can state that higher net migration leads to higher employment – especially in the service sector. More dwellings as well as services in the education and health care sector have to be provided. However, the overall positive consequences of higher net migration are not equally distributed over regions and make different and specific needs of action necessary. The presentation can be downloaded here.