Migration: Why are more and more Germans emigrating to Poland?

Warsaw. The blue Porsche glides through Warsaw's evening rush hour, techno beats emanate from the car's speakers while construction sites line the streets. "Here used to be an old brewery site," remarks Kevin Wörner from his window as he points out, "now it's all offices." A few streets away, a new glass tower is under construction – Warsaw's center resembles Frankfurt's financial district.

Wörner drives into the underground garage of a six-story new building. A few months ago, the 33-year-old moved into his office at "Channel Craft," a company that creates social media content for small and medium-sized enterprises in the US and Germany. Before that, he lived in Berlin. However, due to his ex-girlfriend, he spent a lot of time in Warsaw.

Over the months, the idea of fully relocating there took shape. In 2025, Wörner is not the only German to have emigrated to Poland. 4941 others have followed suit, making it one of the top five destinations after Britain, Italy, and the Netherlands. Since the pandemic, fewer German citizens have moved to eastern neighbor Poland.

At the same time, only 1720 Germans have returned to the country – resulting in a negative "migration balance," as it is called in official German statistics from the Federal Statistical Office. Why are more and more Germans moving over the Oder? What is it about Poland's economy that works better than in Germany? And what lessons can we learn from our eastern neighbor to retain skilled professionals who we might otherwise lose permanently?