The first study of the impact of over one million refugees who arrived in Germany between 2014 and 2015 found “overall unemployment has not been much affected by refugee inflows.”
The evaluation from Germany’s IZA Institute of Labor Economics found there were small increases in petty crime like fare-dodging. The refugee surge neither increased nor decreased support for Germany’s anti-immigrant parties.
Other studies show refugees and migrants can have a positive economic effect in the longer term but that successful integration is a policy choice host countries need to make. McKinsey has identified 180 ways countries can help migrants thrive, and add at least a $1 trillion a year to the global economy.
