HUNGARY – Migration and demographic patterns in Central-Eastern Europe

This report has been prepared as a part of the Horizon 2020 FUME project – Future Migration Scenarios for Europe (870649) and its deliverable “D.6.2. Report on migration and demographic patterns in the EU CEE countries and potential source countries”. Its aim is to analyse the migration profile of Hungary and to assess the country’s migration potential in order to provide material for fine-tuning the FUME migration projection model. Some of the variables considered in this analysis are migrants’ gender, educational attainment, employment, formal status and country of origin. Moreover, the report is a first step in the analytical exercise which aims to determine migration movement potential both from and to Hungary.

Hungary, similarly to other Visegrad countries, is a relatively new immigration country. One of the key moments in its recent migration history is the accession to the European Union in 2004. The report briefly presents the historical context of migrations to and from Hungary in order to facilitate an understanding of the country’s current migration profile. It both sketches the demographic structure of the population of migrants residing in the country and refers to the issues around the Hungarian diaspora regionally and globally. Moreover, the presented analysis provides background information concerning particular institutions and laws that are crucial for the migration policy of the country.