Regional Migration in Economically Lagging Regions in the UK, France, and Germany

Over the past ten years or so, concern has mounted about places in the Global North that have been ‘left behind’ by the growth and prosperity experienced in superstar cities and other wealthy regions. This briefing paper summarises the findings from the one of the strands of the ‘Beyond Left Behind Places’ project, which involved quantitative analysis of residential migration patterns in economically ‘left behind’ regions in the UK, France, and Germany during the immediate pre-COVID period. In addition, we conducted qualitative research with residents of economically ‘left behind’ regions in the three countries to get their perceptions. We use national administrative and census data for the three countries to examine whether economically lagging regions tend to lose or gain population through migration, and what age groups are moving in or out. Economic theories often assume that individuals migrate from economically lagging regions to areas offering better economic conditions. But actually, economically lagging regions in the UK, France and Germany generally tend to experience net population inflows. In other words, more people are moving to these regions than are moving out. In fact, when it comes to internal migration (i.e. people moving within the same country), these lagging regions tend to attract more new residents, on average, than more economically successful regions do.