More people are moving back to the countryside in NRW
According to a recent study, more people in North Rhine-Westphalia are moving back to the countryside to live. While more people moved away from some large cities than moved in between 2020 and 2021, the Bertelsmann Foundation study found that some very rural districts also recorded significant migration gains. The analysis is based on the latest registration data from the State Statistical Office.
According to the data, rural districts in East Westphalia and Lippe as well as parts of the Sauerland, the Münsterland, the Lower Rhine and the rural Eifel districts have recently benefited from an increase in the number of newcomers. The Höxter and Euskirchen districts and the Hochsauerland district, for example, still had a clearly negative net migration between 2009 and 2011.
In contrast, the major cities of Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf and Münster recorded significant migration gains at that time. The picture has now reversed: in the Rhine metropolitan areas in particular, there were more out-migrants than in-migrants between 2020 and 2021.
The authors cite the expensive housing situation in the major cities and increasing digitalization, particularly in the world of work, as the main drivers. The coronavirus pandemic and its consequences have further reinforced the existing trend in favor of rural areas, according to the study. Home office options have come to the fore more than ever before, as has the desire of many for more space and access to green spaces.
According to the research, so-called return migration plays a major role in this development: after people left their home in the countryside for training and studies, they returned there in other phases of their lives - for example, when young families were looking for affordable housing in a green environment.
The study also highlighted that some municipalities in rural areas, such as those in East Westphalia and Lippe, have experienced an increase in people moving there to live. The trend of returning to the countryside after training and studies, known as return migration, is contributing to this development in many municipalities.
Source: www.dpa.com
