Anti-migration campaign vs reality: never came more foreigners to Hungary than in 2019

Based on the newest data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, the number of foreigners coming to Hungary reached a new record. Four out of ten immigrants are Ukrainians while the number of those coming from other EU-member states fell drastically.

“If you come to Hungary you cannot take the work of the Hungarians” – said the Hungarian government on huge billboards in 2015, at the beginning of the migration crisis. Since then,

migration has been in the focus of the government’s communication campaigns.

For example, the parliamentary group of Fidesz even has an anti-migration cabinet. In contrast, according to the latest data of the Hungarian Statistical Office (HSO), never came more foreigners to Hungary than in 2019 – azonnali.hu reported.

The number of foreigners was

55,297 last year

and the HSO regards those people foreigners who ask for a residence permit. In 2018, this number was 49 thousand, in 2017, 36 thousand while in 2016 only 23 thousand.

Even though the government says that the leftist opposition in Hungary is pro-migration, data show that under the eight years of Socialist governments the number of migrants never reached 36 thousand.

Compared to 2018 the number of people coming from Ukraine increased significantly. In 2015, Hungarian authorities registered only 1,143 citizens from there, but this number rose to 16.7 thousand in 2018. Furthermore,

in 2019, 21 thousand Ukrainian citizens asked for a residence permit.

This means that 40 pc of the foreigners coming to Hungary are from Ukraine.

The reason behind that is that before the coronavirus epidemic the Hungarian economy struggled with a labour shortage, so not only Hungarians living in Subcarpathia (the most Western county in Ukraine) came but mostly Ukrainian nationals who did not have Hungarian citizenship (most Hungarians born in Subcarpathia already have Hungarian citizenship).

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese community increased, as well from 1,279 to 1,961. Even so, the number of people coming from Asia stagnates. Interestingly, the last peak of the influx was in 2014, when every third immigrant was from Asia. Therefore, their number stabilised in 12 thousand in the last few years. The number of

Serbians who gave 20 pc of the immigrants in 2007 fell drastically in the last few years to only five pc.

Meanwhile, the number of people coming from other EU-member states decreased significantly. 10 years ago, half of the foreigners coming to Hungary came from the EU.

Before the coronavirus epidemic, 200 thousand foreigners resided in Hungary. That is not a record because, in 2011, that number was 207 thousand.

And why does a foreign citizen come to Hungary? The most popular goals are:

Work: 77,905 people
Uknown reason: 32,119 people
To settle down: 31,864

Furthermore, 5,033 people are currently in Hungary because they are internationally protected.

Source: azonnali.hu