Item Link: Access the Resource
Date of Publication: June 5
Year of Publication: 2024
Publication City: Gothenburg, Sweden
Publisher: The Overpopulatin Project/University of Gothenburg
Author(s): Philip Cafaro
Immigration is proving to be a hot topic in the run up to EU parliamentary elections. While the focus has been on immigration’s cultural and social effects, changes in immigration policy could also impact future population numbers across Europe. This has consequences for citizens, the environment, and ecosystems.
According to the European Union’s statistical bureau, 5.1 million people immigrated into the EU in 2022 (the last year for which full statistics are available). That represented a 117% increase over 2021. Meanwhile, approximately 1 million people left EU member states for other nations, resulting in net immigration of 4.1 million. Despite a short-lived decrease after the public outcry in 2015 and another decrease due to COVID in 2020, EU immigration numbers have rebounded and are now the highest they have ever been.
Mass immigration, a relatively recent phenomenon in Europe, raises pressing social questions. And what would be the fate of the EU’s natural areas, including the network of protected nature (Natura 2000) if the continent becomes even more densely populated?
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