Regional migration in economically lagging territories: a comparative analysis

Discussion of economically lagging regions tends to emphasise out-migration more so than in-migration, particularly when it comes to the young and the higher-skilled. This may give rise to the expectation that net out-migration is a key feature of regions affected by long-term relative economic decline. In this paper, we examine patterns of residential migration in economically ‘left behind’ regions, as compared to other territories, in the UK, France and Germany with a view to understanding implications for population change in these regions. We find that economically lagging regions are, as a whole, not characterised by net population outflows. In fact, though economically buoyant regions often receive higher numbers of international migrants, rates of net internal in-migration are on average slightly higher in economically lagging regions. This seems to be driven by lower rates of out-migration from these territories, more so than higher rates of in-migration. Economically lagging regions, instead of losing population through net out-migration to other regions, thus tend to be places of relatively low residential regional mobility, with the partial exception of the 18-24 age group. We explore this finding in more detail and discuss theoretical and policy implications.