Four countries from the EU make it to the top 10 list of the latest survey. Germany is the number 1 non-English-speaking dream country for foreigners. Competing with the hubs of immigrants globally, Germany has proven to be the next hotspot for foreign workers soon. Switzerland, France, and Spain have also been able to be declared desired countries among the top 10 list.
The survey has been conducted by BCG with the series name “Decoding Global Talent” and the report is about the year 2023. Overall 150,735 workforces participated from 188 countries including 51% males and 47% female participants. Australia has been overall chosen as the best country in the world for reasons such as quality of life, opportunity for jobs, citizenship, and work permits for foreigners. The US remained at the number 2 position followed by Canada at 3 and the UK at the fourth position and Germany fifth.
Survey Statistics about the top EU countries
The survey has been conducted for different aspects that are considered for a country to be a great destination for foreigners. This includes man such as quality of life, job opportunities, suitability for family reunification citizenship, and job opportunities. The following table shows some of these standards for the top 4 countries from the EU zone competing with the other six best ones in the world (according to the percentage of respondents ).
| EU Countries among top 10 | Quality of the job opportunities | Opportunities for Citizenship | Visa & Work permit processes |
| Germany | 74 | 27 | 24 |
| Switzerland | 66 | 23 | 18 |
| France | 59 | 24 | 20 |
| Spain | 42 | 22 | 20 |
Other Ranking Factors for the EU Countries
Besides the abovementioned reasons, there are also many other factors the candidates (survey respondents) were assessed with. For these reasons, most people choose Germany as this is recommended by others. And the second highest reason is that people chose it as their many other country mates live here. France, Spain, and Switzerland have also been chosen for the most important reasons as others recommended it and the people who chose it also speak its language. These are as follows:
Rank, by the number of respondents who listed a specific reason for choosing the country (where 1 is the highest ranking)
| EU country | I speak the language of this country | Others recommended this country | Many people of my nationality live in this country |
| Germany | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Switzerland | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| France | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Spain | 2 | 4 | 5 |
Why is Germany considered the best country in the EU for foreigners?
Germany is continuously becoming the hotspot for foreign workers. Participants of the survey not only chose Germany for the highly qualified background but people with less education, young, digital talent, and white collar background also chose it. Germany is not only chosen by the people of the Asian countries but also by:
- Europe,
- Latin America and the Caribbean,
- Middle East and North Africa,
- the Sub-Saharan African countries.
Germany is itself proving it one of the best for many reasons that have been mentioned above. The government of Germany has also taken some serious and timely steps to open the country to immigrants in the footsteps of Canada and Australia. This is why huge reforms were announced for highly qualified and skilled workers. These rules introduced are:
| First Round | Second Round | Third Round | Fourth round |
The first stage of the new regulations for skilled immigration came into force in November 2023. It mainly included facilitation for the “EU Blue Card” and for recognized skilled workers. | Starting on March 1, 2024, the main beneficiaries will be applicants with two years of experience, nurses, and students. Secondly, foreigners can move to Germany for employment by fulfilling certain requirements. | Opportunity Card to begin on 1 June 2024 allowing the candidates to apply for this one-year visa if they have a degree or vocational qualification. | Start of famous and most awaited citizenship law from 26 June 2024 where apply can apply for German nationality after only 5 years of stay in the country. |
This has opened up Germany for international workers especially the “Opportunity Card” scheme which is to begin on 1 June 2024 and it will allow foreign workers to come to Germany without a job offer. This allows the applicants to have only a degree or vocational qualification and language proficiency in German or English to be eligible for a year visa.
The country is also highly concentrating on the skilled worker visa which will help fulfill its labor market needs. Interested applicants just have to show that their qualification is recognized in Germany and they have a job offer to get a skilled worker visa.
Germany is also introducing its main reforms in the naturalization process. From 26 June 2024, foreigners living in the country will be able to apply for citizenship after 5 and even in some cases after 3 years.
Switzerland, France, and Spain are embarking
Spain is also becoming an international hub thanks to the large number of Latin American and Morrocan communities here. Spain’s economic growth outperforms its European neighbors helped by immigrant labor bridging job market gaps, news agency Reuters reported on 24 April 2004. Immigrants alone from Latin America comprise about 64% of new jobs and account for half of Spain’s economic growth in 2023. The country is also working on legalizing undocumented foreigners.
Switzerland is mostly chosen by people who speak their language or have family ties here. The country has seen continuous growth in international workers since 2017 till now. Besides other factors, this country is also chosen for stability. International workers also choose it for the highest salaries in the EU.
France has also been chosen by respondents for the reasons of family ties, good salary levels, and language spoken. It also introduced a new immigration law in January that would change much in the old styled adopted laws.