Remain in Spain: fewer Spaniards emigrate abroad than any other European nation, UN data shows

The lure of Spain is not just felt by sun-starved Northerners…

We all know that Spain is the most popular holiday and property destination in Europe, proving that the country appeals to many Europeans, Americans, Chinese etc from around the world.

But interesting data published last week by the UN has revealed that only 2.7% of Spaniards live abroad – the lowest proportion in Europe.

The UN map shows that in most Eastern European nations there is a high percentage of the native population who have emigrated elsewhere, with Bosnia and Herzegovina scoring a massive 43.3% of its population who have moved abroad…

Albania (38.8%), Macedonia (24.8%), Portugal (22.3%) and Montenegro (22.1%) round out the top five, while Ireland (18.8%) and Romania (17.5%) both score highly.

As for Brits, 7.6% currently live away from the UK, while the Scandinavian countries seem to do a good job in convincing their citizens to stay – Norway and Sweden have just 3.7% and 3.4% of their population abroad respectively, with Finland at a modest 5.4%.

For a few years during the depths of the recession, thousands of Spaniards moved to the UK and Germany in search of work, and while many have decided to stay in their adopted country, it is evident from the UN data that the majority have returned home now that Spain’s economy has recovered.

Given its affordability, excellent cuisine, superb climate and enviable natural beauty, it is not hard to see why Spain exerts such a pull on both Spaniards and foreigners alike.

Another map created by the UN shows what the most popular destination for each nationality is. The data shows that Brits are most likely to emigrate to Australia, the Irish to the UK, Germans to the US, and much of Eastern Europe to Germany.

Interestingly, Spaniards are most likely to move to France, with the French most likely to favour – yep, you guessed it – Spain.