Number of People Living in Each Other’s Country

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The table below shows the number of people from five different European countries who were living in each other’s countries in 2011.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The table presents information about the number of people from five European countries—Poland, Italy, Germany, the UK, and Spain—who were living in one another’s countries in 2011. It highlights the direction and scale of migration between these nations.

Overall, it is clear that Polish citizens were the most likely to emigrate, followed by Italians and Germans, while the Spanish had the lowest number living abroad. Germany was the most popular destination for immigrants from most countries, with the exception of the British and Germans who preferred Spain and the UK, respectively.

A closer look reveals that Poland had the largest number of emigrants, at 1,168,000, with almost half a million in both the UK and Germany. Italy followed with 863,670 migrants, most of whom were in Germany (556,000). In comparison, few people from any country moved to Poland, with numbers ranging from just 170 Spaniards to 4,400 Germans.

Both Germany and the UK showed mutual migration patterns: 297,000 Germans lived in the UK, and 391,000 Britons chose Spain. Meanwhile, Spanish emigrants were the fewest overall (202,170), but their top choices—like others—were Germany and the UK, with close to 100,000 in each. Once again, Poland remained the least preferred destination for all five nationalities.