Factors influencing the spatial distribution of international retirement migrants settling in Hungary
This paper focuses on the spatial aspects of international retirement migration in Hungary. We employ the theoretical framework and concepts of international retirement migration, lifestyle migration, and geoarbitrage. We seek to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the basic demographics, spatial distribution and settlement patterns of German and Ukrainian older migrants settling in Hungary; and 2) What factors influence the residential choices of German and Ukrainian older migrants in Hungary.
Why to study this topic?
We argue that, reinforcing findings by King and his colleagues (King et al., 2021), the new geographical boundaries of IRM have broadened to include Central and Eastern Europe (Hungary). Not only has the geographical target area widened, but also the social background of retirees.
Data and Methods
The paper applied two levels of analysis: national and local. Regarding the national level, we applied descriptive data analysis. We used an unpublished database on foreign residents staying in Hungary for more than three months for both levels, as compiled by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO). For the local-level study, the latter was complemented by municipal-level aggregate data on registered persons born in Germany or Ukraine aged 60 + in 2021. Here, we utilized another large dataset from the HCSO, which provides information on factors influencing the attractiveness of settlements. In the local-level analysis, multivariate statistical methods were used.
Results
We found that regions where migrants from East and West are concentrated are almost complementary. While Hungary’s southwestern and western edges are overrepresented in the residential choices of Western migrants aged 60 and above, the eastern peripheries are inhabited by many of the Eastern retirees. The analysis proves that two distinct groups can be identified: a larger group from Hungary’s neighborhood, mainly of Hungarian ethnicity, living mainly in the capital city and its agglomeration, and close to their country of origin, with an urbanization rate similar to the national average; and a smaller group from Western Europe, living mainly in rural areas.
Results confirm that in disadvantaged settlements far from the Ukrainian border, where there are neither basic health services nor basic infrastructure (sewerage system), there are no Ukrainian migrants aged 60 and above. Lifestyle migration is more applicable to older migrants from Germany. 58% of German-born older persons live in settlements far from metropolitan agglomerations, and within this group, a specific cohort resides in particularly disadvantaged settlements untouched by mass tourism. At the same time, many (10-12%) older German migrants are registered in the country’s renowned spa towns and settlements along the shores of Lake Balaton.
Source:
Factors influencing the spatial distribution of international retirement migrants settling in Hungary
Koós, Bálint – Tátrai, Patrik – Gábriel, Dóra
Comparative Migration Studies, 13, 36 (2025) Published: 05 June 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-025-00455-x
