The table illustrates the number of people from five European countries—Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain—living in each other’s countries in 2011.
Overall, Germany hosted the largest total number of foreign residents from the other four nations, while Poland had by far the smallest numbers. British and Polish citizens appeared to be the most mobile, living abroad in significant numbers.
Looking first at the largest figures, Germany accommodated 1.198 million people from the other four countries, including particularly high numbers of Italians (556,000) and Poles (426,000). The United Kingdom also had a substantial foreign population, with 1.037 million residents from these nations, the majority of whom were Polish (550,000) and German (297,000).
In contrast, Poland had only 6,000 residents from the other four countries combined, the lowest figure across the table. Italy and Spain had moderate totals, with 196,000 and 861,000 respectively. Notably, Spain was home to a large number of British people (391,000), while Italy hosted a sizeable Polish community (106,000).
In terms of overall distribution, Polish citizens were the largest expatriate group, totalling over 1.16 million across the five countries, followed by Italians at around 864,000. The smallest group living abroad was the Polish-based foreign population, reflecting limited inward migration to Poland in 2011.