International Elderly Migration in Hungary

The paper examines international elderly migration (IEM) related to Hungary. Little effort has been made to investigate this increasingly important element of human migration in Central and Eastern Europe. The general objective of this study is to contribute to filling this gap. IEM is investigated using register-based data on migration flows, stocks and citizenship statistics. The analysis focuses on the time series but the paper also considers the historical context and the recent patterns of IEM. The aim of the research was fourfold. Firstly, we tried to establish when IEM related to Hungary began. Secondly, we detected the accelerating character of this phenomenon. Thirdly, we were able to identify the main macrofactors influencing the level of IEM. Fourthly, the main result of the study was that it allowed exploration of a Hungarian peculiarity. “Pension seeking” is one very distinctive feature of IEM and is in many ways a legacy of the state socialism period. Therefore, its emergence on such a large scale is the result of the transformation period. We suppose that pension-hunting type migration will be temporary in nature. Conclusions about the motivational structure of IEM are discussed with reference to policy implications in the light of the ageing population structure in Hungary.