The table compares the number of people from five European countries – Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain – who were living in each other’s nations in 2011. Overall, Germany and Britain had the highest numbers of expatriates within this group, while Poland and Italy had significantly smaller figures.
Looking first at the totals, Germany was home to the largest number of foreign residents, with just under 1.2 million people, followed closely by Britain at around 1.04 million. Spain also hosted a considerable number of Europeans, about 861,000 in total. In contrast, Italy and Poland were far less popular destinations, with 196,000 and only 6,000 foreigners respectively.
When we look more closely at bilateral flows, some striking patterns emerge. The largest single group was Polish citizens in Britain, numbering 550,000. Similarly, there were 556,000 Italians in Germany, making up the second-largest figure in the table. By contrast, almost no Poles were recorded in Italy (just 670) or Spain (170).
Interestingly, Spain attracted a relatively high number of British nationals – 391,000 – by far the biggest group of foreigners living in Spain. Meanwhile, smaller exchanges occurred between other pairs, such as 42,000 Germans in Italy or 71,000 Britons in Spain.
In summary, Britain and Germany were both major hosts and sources of migration within Europe, while Poland stood out more as a sending country than as a receiving one.