A new study by the German Economic Institute (IW) has concluded that foreign workers in Germany are “indispensable” for eastern federal states’ economies.

IW study underlines value of foreign workers in eastern German states

"In 2023, some 403.000 people with foreign passports worked in Germany's five eastern states, about 173.000 more than five years prior," a recent study from the IW has concluded. "They alone were responsible for creating 24,6 billion euros [...] — that equals roughly 5,8 percent of eastern German gross value creation." 

The study deduced that “foreign workers are indispensable for eastern states: between 2018 and 2023 the number of working Germans in the region dropped by 116.000."

"That makes it all the more important for the region to remain open to the rest of the world,” said co-author Wido Geis-Thröne, “that is the only way eastern Germany's economy can remain successful."

In 2023, the majority of immigrants working in eastern Germany arrived from Poland, Czechia Romania and Ukraine, with many finding jobs in housing and construction.

AfD success predicted for impending elections in three eastern states

According to the IW, Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia were the three eastern German states to have benefitted the most from foreign labour in 2023, which created 7,9 billion euros in revenue in Saxony, 6,8 billion in Brandenburg and 3,9 billion in Thuringia.

Coincidentally or not, these are the three federal states where the AfD is expected to gain considerable ground in state elections on September 2 and 22, following wins for the right-wing, populist party in June’s European elections.

Over 30 years since the Berlin Wall fell, economic disparities between the former East and West Germanies persist. Employees in western Germany work less but are paid around 12.000 euros more per year than those in the eastern states and low-quality internet is said to be slowing down the eastern German economy, among other examples.

Concluding that the region would have seen greater economic decline in the past five years had fewer immigrants not come to work in eastern Germany, the study’s results lie in direct opposition to the AfD line, that Germany should do as much as possible to limit immigration and even “remigrate” German citizens with a migration background.

Germany deports first 28 people to Taliban-led Afghanistan

The study’s publication comes just days after a boiling immigration policy debate was reignited by the Solingen stabbing, in which a 26-year-old Syrian national killed three people and wounded eight at a festival in the city southeast of Düsseldorf. 

Less than a week later, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced that 28 Afghan nationals in Germany had been deported, the first deportation from Germany since the Taliban regained control in 2021.

Criticism has come from human rights groups. Deporting “so-called ‘dangerous individuals’ and criminals to Afghanistan and Syria shows politics is far removed from international law”, Amnesty International Germany said in response to the flight leaving from Leipzig / Halle Airport on Friday morning. 

“We all have human rights – and no one should be deported to a country where there is risk of torture.”

Thumb image credit: travelview / Shutterstock.com