More than half of young people in Romania express a desire to emigrate for more than six months to another country, with 8% having a very strong desire, 11% a strong desire, and 32% a moderate desire to emigrate, according to the Youth Study. Southeast Europe 2024 conducted by the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation.

The data was collected by Ipsos in 2024 through an online survey among 8,925 young people (aged 14–29) representative of 12 countries in Southeast Europe, including Romania.

Overall, young people in Southeast European countries show a high intention to emigrate, either temporarily or permanently. Within this group, North Macedonia, Albania, and Turkey stand out, with more than one in three young people expressing a (very) strong desire to emigrate. On the opposite end are Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia, where less than one in five young people expressed this intention at the time of the survey.

Across all studied countries, the most common reasons cited by respondents with strong or moderate intentions to emigrate are economic: improving their standard of living, higher wages, or better employment opportunities. 

Among Romanian youth, half of those intending to emigrate cited the desire to improve their standard of living (26%) or to earn a better salary (24%) as their primary motivation.

“The economic nature of the motivation is further demonstrated by the fact that the intention to emigrate is more prevalent among young people who perceive their economic status as low,” the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation said. 

In Romania, 57% of young people who state that they can only afford basic necessities (current bills, food, clothing) express a strong desire to emigrate, compared to just 15% of those who can afford everything they need.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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