New Strategy Briefing – Economic and Business Effects of Ethnic Diversity in Western European Cities

Throughout the last decade, migration has been growing in Western Europe. Foreigners have been flocking mainly to major cities of key economies in the region and thus shaping both their demographic composition and consumer markets. The New Strategy Briefing published by Passport Cities provides an overview of cities which were impacted the most by international immigration and what role it had in city growth.

A few key findings:

Additionally, we have identified key major patterns how migration is impacting metropolises in Western Europe. These include:

• International migration has been boosting Western European cities‘ population: During 2006-2016, 20 out of 32 leading metropolises in Western Europe were growing population-wise predominantly due to net migration. Furthermore, an influx of foreign citizens has been especially high in 11 out of those 20 cities.
• The number of foreign citizens is up across the region’s key metropolises: The number of foreign citizens in Western Europe’s 33 major cities rose from 10 in 2006 to 14 million in 2016. In the majority of the metropolises foreign citizens make up less than 15% of the local population as of 2016.
• Foreigners as consumers present worthwhile business opportunities: Migration, in addition to its impact on overall city affluence, has direct business implications. The case study showcases specific examples of how companies in London, Vienna and Barcelona took advantage of market opportunities created by the presence of foreign nationals.

For further details, please refer to our Strategy Briefing— Urban Core Revival: Drivers, In-Depth Look at Cities and Implications for Businesses.

Strategy Briefings offer unique insight into emerging trends world-wide. Aimed squarely at strategists and planners, they draw on Euromonitor International’s vast information resources and add new intensive research to give top line insight across markets and within consumer segments.