Jobs & public finances

Once someone's there, the sharpest questions are economic: do they work, what do they draw in benefits versus pay in taxes, and over what time horizon does that even out.

Data updated

In work, born outside the EU, 2025
68.6%
77.2% of the native-born (−8.6 pts)
Women in work, born outside the EU
59.4%
73.1% of native-born women (−13.7 pts)
Graduates in jobs below their level
41.4%
Non-EU citizens, against 20.0% of nationals
At risk of poverty, born outside the EU
31.5%
13.5% of the native-born

How the foreign-born do, country by country

People born in another EU country work about as much as natives. People born outside the EU work less, women most of all, and are far more likely to be poor or in jobs below their qualifications. In employment the gap is widest in Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium (14–17 points), and close to zero or reversed in Italy, Ireland, Czechia, Portugal, Poland and Slovakia.

birthrate.ioMigration

Employment rate, ages 20–64, by country of birth

Share of people aged 20–64 in work. Latest year, 30 countries plus the EU-27. Sorted by the gap between people born outside the EU and the native-born.

Native-bornBorn in another EU countryBorn outside the EU
  • EU-27−8.6
  • 🇫🇮Finland−16.9
  • 🇳🇱Netherlands−16.1
  • 🇧🇬Bulgaria−15.5
  • 🇩🇪Germany−15.0
  • 🇨🇭Switzerland−14.8
  • 🇧🇪Belgium−14.3
  • 🇫🇷France−14.1
  • 🇸🇪Sweden−13.7
  • 🇳🇴Norway−13.1
  • 🇦🇹Austria−12.7
  • 🇩🇰Denmark−9.2
  • 🇱🇻Latvia−7.2
  • 🇨🇾Cyprus−6.7
  • 🇭🇷Croatia−6.1
  • 🇮🇸Iceland−5.9
  • 🇭🇺Hungary−5.7
  • 🇲🇹Malta−5.4
  • 🇪🇸Spain−4.6
  • 🇷🇴Romania−4.2
  • 🇱🇹Lithuania−4.2
  • 🇪🇪Estonia−2.7
  • 🇬🇷Greece−2.1
  • 🇸🇮Slovenia−2.0
  • 🇮🇹Italy−1.6
  • 🇮🇪Ireland−1.2
  • 🇨🇿Czechia−0.8
  • 🇵🇹Portugal+0.3
  • 🇱🇺Luxembourg+0.4
  • 🇵🇱Poland+4.8
  • 🇸🇰Slovakia+6.5
30%48%65%83%100%

Gap = born outside the EU minus native-born, in percentage points. Copper where it works against people born outside the EU.

Source: Eurostat Labour Force Survey (lfsa_ergacob, lfsa_urgacob, lfsa_argacob, edat_lfs_9912, lfsa_eoqgan) and EU-SILC (ilc_li32). Born outside the EU includes people born in the UK, Ukraine and Türkiye alike; Eurostat does not split it further.birthrate.io/migration/outcomes#gaps

Is the gap closing?

birthrate.ioMigration

Employment rate, ages 20–64: EU-27, 2006–2025

Share of people aged 20–64 in work. Has the gap closed?

Source: Eurostat Labour Force Survey (lfsa_ergacob, lfsa_urgacob, lfsa_argacob, edat_lfs_9912, lfsa_eoqgan) and EU-SILC (ilc_li32)birthrate.io/migration/outcomes#trend

Taxes paid and benefits received

On individual taxes and benefits the foreign-born paid in more than they received in all 25 countries in the OECD's accounting. Charge everyone a share of public goods and the balance turns negative for the foreign-born in 18 of the 25, and for natives in 20.

birthrate.ioMigration

Do immigrants pay in more than they take out?

Net fiscal contribution of the foreign-born and native-born, % of GDP, 2006–2018 average. Individual taxes and benefits only.

Native-bornForeign-born
  • Luxembourg+7.64
  • Australia+3.46
  • Switzerland+3.18
  • Canada+2.16
  • United Kingdom+2.02
  • Italy+1.87
  • Portugal+1.79
  • Spain+1.70
  • Austria+1.67
  • Ireland+1.57
  • Germany+1.54
  • Belgium+1.38
  • Norway+1.34
  • Greece+1.24
  • France+1.02
  • Sweden+1.00
  • United States+1.00
  • Denmark+0.87
  • Netherlands+0.85
  • Slovenia+0.68
  • Czechia+0.37
  • Latvia+0.28
  • Lithuania+0.23
  • Finland+0.13
  • Estonia+0.05

Right of the line = pays in more than it receives. Value shown is the foreign-born figure. Lifetime break-even and method

Source: OECD International Migration Outlook 2021, Chapter 4, Table 4.1. Yearly accounting, not lifetime; the foreign-born are younger, which flatters them in a single year.birthrate.io/migration/outcomes#fiscal

Deeper dives

Immigrant fiscal impact

OECD net fiscal contribution, 25 countries, plus a lifetime break-even pay percentile for 4 European systems.

Germany Bürgergeld by nationality

Official within-group benefit rates by citizenship, and who the caseload actually is.

Crime by ancestry & origin

Offending by origin where countries publish it (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the US, Austria), and foreign citizens' share of prisoners.

Fertility by race & origin

Births per woman by origin where statistics offices publish them: US race, Austria origin and more.

Per-country detail

Each country profile's migration section, with work permits by citizenship and unemployment by birthplace where published.

What this page measures

Labour-force Participation — Nationals% of population 15–64
Activity rate of nationals aged 15–64 (Eurostat LFS, lfsa_argan where available). Share of nationals in the labour force (employed + unemployed). Source: Eurostat.
Labour-force Participation — Foreign Citizens% of population 15–64
Activity rate of foreign citizens aged 15–64 (Eurostat LFS). Citizenship is not the same as foreign-born; naturalised immigrants count as nationals. Source: Eurostat.
  • Labour-force participation is by citizenship, not country of birth: naturalised immigrants count as nationals.

Definitions for every indicator are listed in the glossary, and collection methods in the methodology.

Sources & citation
  • Eurostat — European statistical office — crime, population and social statistics for EU/EFTA and candidate countries. Licence: Eurostat terms (CC BY 4.0).

birthrate.io, "Jobs & public finances". https://www.birthrate.io/migration/outcomes (accessed 12 November 2026). Underlying data: Eurostat.

Please cite the original statistical agency for the underlying figures. Charts and tables on this page may be reused with attribution.