Talent Abroad: A Review of Romanian Emigrants

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Executive summary
Chapter 1.  Numbers and locations of Romanian emigrants
	Historical context of Romanian emigration to the OECD
	The fifth-largest emigrant population in OECD countries in 2015/16
		Romania is the main origin country among its neighbours
	Demographic composition of the Romanian diaspora
		More than half of Romanian emigrants are women
		Nine out of ten Romanian emigrants are of working age, up from only three out of four in 2000
		A fifth of Romanian emigrants arrived recently
	Distribution across destination countries
		Ten countries host over 93% of Romanian emigrants in the OECD
		Close to 90% of all Romanian emigrants in OECD countries are in Europe
		The number of Romanian emigrants in Italy increased the most in the period of Romania’s accession to the European Union
	Who lives where?
		Differences between destination countries
		Regional distribution of Romanian emigrants in main destination countries
	Most Romanian emigrants cite employment as the reason for their migration
		The number of international students from Romania is growing slowly
	The majority of Romanian emigrants are not citizens of their host country
		Comparatively few Romanian emigrants are citizens of Spain or Italy
		Acquisition of host-country nationality differs by destination and age
	A growing population of descendants of Romanian emigrants
		Cross-country EU data show an older population of descendants of Romanian emigrants concentrated in a small number of countries
		National data sources in more recent countries of destination show a younger, more widespread population of descendants of Romanian emigrants
	Conclusions
	References
		Annex 1.A. Additional figures and tables
Chapter 2.  Recent trends in emigration from Romania
	Free movement of Romanian citizens in the European Union
	Growing flows of emigrants from Romania to OECD countries
		EU accession in 2007 brought a peak in Romanian emigration…
		…but the economic crisis quickly reduced flows, followed by more gradual increases
		Flows from Romania dwarf those from neighbouring countries
	EU accession and the economic crisis shaped emigration patterns to specific OECD countries
		A spike in flows to Spain and Italy following accession to the European Union…
		…followed by a sharp decline with the onset of the global economic crisis in 2008…
		…and recent increases in flows to Germany and the United Kingdom
		Net migration patterns differ by country, with negative net migration to Spain
		Flows include a high share of women, an increasing proportion of highly educated, and a declining share of those who were previously unemployed
	Emigration prospects among the population living in Romania
		Intentions to emigrate are high in Romania, especially among young people
		The employment situation in Romania is one of the main causes of the high level of emigration intentions
		Satisfaction with personal freedoms, family networks and educational attainment also underlie emigration intentions
	Conclusion
	Notes
	References
Chapter 3.  The socio-demographic characteristics of the Romanian diaspora
	Education distribution of Romanian emigrants across OECD countries
		Close to a fourth of Romanian emigrants in OECD countries are highly educated
		The education level of Romanian emigrants is relatively stable over time
		Among Romanian emigrants living in OECD countries, women now have a higher level of education than men
		Romanian emigrants with the host country citizenship are more educated than those who do not have it
	The children of Romanian emigrants differ in education levels in European countries and in the United States
		In European countries, the children of Romanian emigrants are less educated than other natives with migrant parents
		On the contrary, in the United States, the children of Romanian emigrants are better educated than other native-born persons
	Romanian emigrants are socially integrated in most countries
		The Romanian language is not widespread among the Romanian diaspora
		The practice of mixed marriages varies widely across countries
		Romanian emigrants face a relatively high level of discrimination in their main destination countries
	Conclusion
	References
		Annex 3.A. Additional figures and tables
Chapter 4.  Labour market outcomes of Romanian emigrants
	Labour market integration is comparatively difficult
		Labour market participation and employment rates of Romanian emigrants are overall higher than those of natives
		Although highly educated emigrants have higher employment rates, job creation is greater for the low educated
		High level of unemployment among Romanian emigrants
	Romanian emigrants are over-represented in low-skilled professions
		Emigrants are particularly clustered in low-skilled occupations, although there is large heterogeneity across destination countries
		Women are more likely to work in elementary occupations
		Over-qualification rates are higher for Romanian emigrants than for other foreign-born
		A large share of emigrants perceives that their skills are underutilised in the workplace
	Many Romanian emigrants work in low-skilled sectors
		The distribution of Romanian emigrants is skewed towards certain sectors of activity
		The emigration of health professionals represents a large and long-standing diaspora, especially in certain destination countries
	Conclusion
	References
Chapter 5.  Return migration to Romania
	Return intentions among Romanian emigrants
	Characteristics of Romanian emigrants who returned to Romania
		Accession of Romania to the European Union has made return migration easier, but also more difficult to measure
		In 2015-17, at least 160 000 Romanian emigrants returned to Romania each year from European OECD countries
		Romanian return migrants are much younger than non-migrants
		The share of women is higher among migrants returning from Italy than from Germany and Spain
		Romanian return migrants have on average lower levels of education than non-migrants and those who stayed abroad
	Economic contributions of Romanian emigrants
		Prime-age and highly educated return migrants face difficulties to reintegrate the Romanian labour market
		Entrepreneurship and occupations of return migrants: Choices or constraints?
		Each year, Romanian emigrants send remittances amounting to 2% of GDP
	Conclusions
	Notes
	References