The European Commission publishes each year a report on labour mobility trends in EU and EFTA countries.

The recently published report for 2019 highlights that intra-EU mobility continued to grow but at a slower pace than in the previous years, with 17.9 million EU-28 movers in the EU, out of whom 13 million were of working age (20-64 years).

Just under half of these movers (46%) reside in Germany and the UK, and a further 28% in France, Italy and Spain. Additionally, over 50% of EU movers were Romanian, Polish, Italian, Portuguese or Bulgarian citizens. Together they accounted for 6.9 million out of 11.9 million movers of working age.

One event that will affect the shape and nature of intra-EU labour mobility is the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.  

The rights of the EU 27 citizens who already live and work in UK and those UK citizens who live and work in EU 27 will be further protected, in line with the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement. However, for the time being the UK is still a major destination country for EU-mobile workers.

Full report: Annual Report on Intra-EU Labour Mobility – 2020 

Summary: Labour mobility at a glance