🌍 Generation Z Migration in Europe — 2025

Europe is quietly changing shape. Not through borders or politics, but through movement — millions of young people deciding where their future will begin.

Generation Z, the most mobile and digitally connected generation in history, is already leaving a visible footprint on the European map. Using a series of spatial visualizations, we can start to see these choices: who leaves, where they go, and which places are becoming magnets for young lives.

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Generation Z Migration Intensity by Country

This map shows relative Gen Z migration intensity across Europe in 2025.

Several patterns stand out immediately:

• Eastern Europe shows the strongest outward pressure — countries like Ukraine and parts of Eastern EU remain deep red.
• Western and Northern Europe appear more stable, with moderate inflows balancing outflows.
• Southern Europe sits in the middle: not emptying out, but still losing young people from specific regions.

Migration here is not just economic — it reflects expectations, stability, education access, and long-term optimism.

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Absolute Size of the Gen Z Population

Population size changes the story.

Countries like Russia, Germany, France, and the UK dominate in absolute Gen Z numbers, even if their migration rates are lower. This creates an important contrast:

• Large Gen Z populations can absorb migration losses more easily.
• Smaller countries feel the impact of youth emigration much faster.

Maps like this remind us why percentages alone are misleading without spatial context.

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Share of Gen Z in National Populations

This map highlights where Gen Z represents a larger share of society.

• Kosovo, Ireland, Iceland, and parts of the Balkans stand out with high youth proportions.
• Aging societies in Western Europe appear more muted.

A high Gen Z share combined with high emigration is a demographic warning sign — it means the future workforce is already packing its bags.

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City-Level Emigration: Italy as a Case Study

Zooming into Italy reveals how migration concentrates at the urban level.

• Milan, Rome, and Naples dominate outbound flows.
• Northern cities show strong connections toward Central and Western Europe.
• Southern cities follow similar paths, but often with fewer return routes.

Urban ambition drives this movement — cities are launchpads, not destinations.

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Germany: Internal Hubs and External Pull

Germany tells a different story.

• Berlin leads emigration volume but remains a major destination itself.
• Strong internal circulation between cities like Hamburg, Munich, and Frankfurt.
• International routes remain balanced rather than one-directional.

This is what structural stability looks like on a migration map.

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Spain: Youth on the Move from the South and Coast

Spain shows classic periphery-to-core movement:

• Madrid and Barcelona dominate exits.
• Southern regions feed into national hubs before moving outward.
• Coastal cities act as temporary anchors rather than final stops.

The geography of opportunity is visible — and predictable.

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🎥 Watch the Data in Motion

To better understand these flows, static maps are not always enough. Here is a short video that brings the patterns together:

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What These Maps Really Say

Generation Z migration in Europe is not chaos — it is structured, directional, and deeply human.

Young people are:

• Leaving instability
• Moving toward opportunity
• Using cities as stepping stones, not endpoints

When mapped properly, these choices stop being abstract statistics and start becoming readable stories.

This is exactly where spatial tools matter.

👉 Explore more at app.mapthos.org

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