The latest release of statistics outlining the lives of the half-billion people of the European Union (EU) contains some embarrassing admissions of failures in European living standards coupled with the harmful effects of migration.
Compiled by the EU’s own in-house statistics bureau Eurostat, the annual book contains some inconvenient truths about the direction of travel for the EU. Focussing on European demographics and living conditions, the report found a continent rapidly changing and becoming unrecognisable from what it had been in the early days of the Union.
Mass migration and rapidly deteriorating traditional values were two big sources of change. The report found that over seven per cent of all people in Europe in 2011 were born outside the continent — nearly 40 million people, more than the whole population of Poland. This figure would be even higher considering so-called second generation migrants, the children of migrants after they arrived in Europe.
After the 2015 migration crisis record year, it is likely the number of foreign born individuals will be quite significantly higher than the 2011 figure. Germany alone expects 1.5 million migrants this year, which considering it has already taken one million just in asylum is likely to be an underestimate.
Seventy per cent of population growth in Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, Speain, Sweden, Slovenia, Belgium and Cyprus is down to high migration, found the report.
While mass migration has artificially inflated the populations of some nations, it has decimated others in Europe. Despite having one of the highest birth rates in Europe, the actual population of Poland continues to fall because so many Poles have moved to the United Kingdom.
While this may be unpopular among some in Britain, it is pretty poorly thought of by many in Poland as well. As the nation pays for the education of its young people who immediately leave for abroad when they reach adulthood, the government is deprived of tax income, and the ability to make a return on their initial investment.
Speaking to Breitbart London, Civitas director Dr. David Green recognised the problem. He said: “There has been so much outward migration that the population has fallen significantly in 11 member states.
“Those who leave tend to be the most educated and the most motivated young people – precisely the individuals that any country needs if it is to prosper. The loss of talent in some countries has been so great that it will set back economic development for a generation”.
As well as radical demographic change, the social customs of Europe were also observed to be changing. The beleaguered institution of marriage was one such loser in the race to remould Europe — the report found incidences of marriages had halved since 1964.
The exact distribution of marriage varies across Europe. While it remains common in religious states such as Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Romania, it is least common on Western European nations like France, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.
Also in focus was the quality and availability of housing stock across Europe. The United Kingdom has the least unoccupied houses of any country in the Union, reflecting the side effects of a period of extremely high net migration combined with low house building. This compares to the European average, where one in six houses across the continent are unoccupied.
Follow Oliver Lane on Twitter: Follow @Oliver_Lane or e-mail to: olane@breitbart.com
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