The Highly Qualified Move More Frequently Between Regions: An Analysis of Socio-economic Aspects of Internal Migration Based on the Microcensus

Multivariate analyses show that, all other things being equal, graduates and undergraduates move between government regions (NUTS2) much more frequently than those with less academic educational backgrounds. In contrast, parents move much less often than the childless. Internal migration is altering not only the demographic but also the socio-economic make-up of Germany’s regions. For example, according to an extrapolation based on the microcensus and migration statistics, from 2014 to 2018 the government region of Upper Bavaria managed to attract a net total of around 69,000 undergraduates and graduates between the ages of 18 and 49. The other regions surrounding large metropolises also benefited strongly from internal migration, with the more rural areas suffering corresponding losses. Not only the magnitude but also, to some extent, the direction of migration is different from that for all 18- to 49-year-olds, making it clear that the migration statistics in their current form are an inadequate monitoring tool for internal migration. IW-Trends – Vierteljahresschrift zur empirischen Wirtschaftsforschung aus dem Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln e.V., 47. Jahrgang,